Washington Post article
I'm not too surprised that this is being done, but I am surprised at the idea's people are coming up with for the mixing.Controversy erupted several years ago in Britain after scientists announced plans to make human embryos with the nucleus removed from cow and rabbit eggs. Authorities allowed limited experiments and ruled the embryos should not be allowed to develop for more than two weeks.
In the latest report, Bobrow and colleagues concluded some experiments should only be allowed under additional monitoring from the new expert body and that a very small number of experiments should not be done at all.
Among experimentation that might spark concern are those where human brain cells might change animal brains, those that could lead to the fertilization of human eggs in animals and any modifications of animals that might create attributes considered uniquely human, like facial features, skin or speech.
Some disagree. “We think some of these should be done, but they should be done in an open way to maintain public confidence,” said Robin Lovell-Badge, head of stem cell biology and developmental genetics at Britain’s Medical Research Council, one of the expert group members. He said experiments injecting human brain cells into the brains of rats might help develop new stroke treatments or that growing human skin on mice could further understanding of skin cancer.
Other experts said such issues needed to be debated in Parliament and that any advisory body must have a diverse membership. “The danger is you could get scientists effectively regulating scientists,” said Dr. Peter Saunders, chief executive of the Christian Medical Fellowship, a group that opposes the creation of human and animal embryos. He said most experiments on animals with human DNA were OK, but that any tests that aim to enhance animals with human material are not acceptable.
Bobrow warned altering animal brains with human brain cells shouldn’t be done just yet. “The closer (an animal brain) is to a human brain, the harder it is to predict what might happen,” he said.
