Is producing hybrid embryos wrong?

Question

In December, the (British) government proposed a ban on creating the hybrid embryos because of public unease at the idea, but it later bowed to protests by scientists who feared Britain could lose its leading role in stem cell research.

Opponents say mixing even a tiny amount of human genetic material with that of an animal is unnatural and wrong.

http://www.reuters.com/article/scienceNews/idUSL3122001120070731

Answer 1

We mix species already. It is used to produce antibodies (not to be confused with antibiotics) for use in research and some medical treatments. You isolate an immune cell from an animal (human, mouse, rabbit, etc) that is producing the antibody you want. Then you fuse it with a mouse cancer cell. The result is a rapidly dividing hybrid cell that cranks out the antibody of interest. Then you just filter the antibody out of the liquid that the cells are growing in. Granted, the hybrid cells are not very healthy, and only keep going because they are are cancer cells. The population will only survive for so long before entirely dying out.

I think this is a complete non-issue among scientists. Most of the outcry comes from people who have no idea how development actually works. A hybrid embryo would not be able to grow into a living organism (i.e. a human with animal traits, or an animal with human intelligence). The embryo would only be sustainable as a small ball of cells under lab conditions.

Answer 2

I think you have misunderstood the issue. Hybrid embryos have the nucleus of a human cell in an enucleated cell of another animal. 100% of nuclear DNA will be human. This will allow the development of stem cells without sacrificing a 'human embryo'. And why the Frankenstein label? This is tabloid headline speak which doesn't help move the discussion forward at all.

Answer 3

This just one more proof that such a knee jerk approach to science and bioethics needs to be a lot more thoughtful. Let me give you an example. If yeast cells (which are technically animals) are engineered to produce human insulin, is it wrong? If viruses are engineered to produce genes that make proteins which can fix genetic errors which kill people, is it wrong? If a vaccine is developed against a kind of cancer (this would not be an organism since viruses are not alive but it is still a "hybrid") is it wrong?

Unfortunately, this is not really a discussion about creating human/animal chimeras (truly hybrid creatures like centaurs) but the rantings of fanatic and ignorant people who reject anything they do not understand. Well, if God gave you a brain, shouldn't you be able to use it?

Answer 4

here's another example of ethics in science.
yes, it may be wrong now, but when we get to develop the technology that will save lives from this research, will it be wrong then?

Answer 5

Only God should be creating life not man.