Enter the Cybrids

[Narin]

This week, a complex and controversial piece of legislation began to make its way through the British parliament. One of the provisions of the bill permits the creation of “savior siblings” — children created via in vitro fertilization (I.V.F.) to ensure their tissues will match those of a sick older brother or sister, in order that the new child could provide, say, a bone marrow transplant. (Conceiving a child the old-fashioned way doesn’t guarantee a tissue match.) Another is a reduction of the legal time-limit on abortion, which up to now has been 24 weeks.

A third provision — and the most controversial of all — permits the creation of human-animal hybrid embryos, or “cybrids,” for medical research. On Monday, in the first stage of passing the legislation, members of the House of Commons voted in favor. It is this third provision that I want to focus on.

http://judson.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/20...er-the-cybrids/

Am I the only one who had a bad feeling about this?

 

[distorted.freque]

...yikes?

Why would they want to make human-animal hybrids? That's just...weird.

 

[Urza]

 

[feds4u]

tastes like chicken

 

[PBC]

I can't wait until I can glow in the dark.

 

[fischju]

Those are gonna make some sweet super soldiers.

Great Britain isn't doing so well, somebody should read 1984

 

[lagman]

hmm, I'm almost sure that has been happening for years:

Spoiler

[titleossibly disgusting image]

Unless I'm missing something here.

 

[WildWon]

I just read a bit more of the article. Looks like they're trying to create stem-cells for research. The cybrid embryo must be destroyed at 14 days, which is the point when it would start to change.

I think they're looking for another way of producing stem-cells rather than through aborted fetus' and whatnot. A re-newable resource of stem-cells.

I don't think i fully agree with it still (this is getting to be a really fucked up time, technologically speaking heh), but at least they aren't (read: yet) looking at raising an actual chilf. (...a child/calf hybrid?

)