mouse/human hybrids

cloning is one thing, cross species is totally another. It was in the paper yesterday. outrage as scientists try to create mouse/man embryo.
this could be realy weird if it works and gets into the wrong hands. Scientists say it could be great for experimentation on cures for diseases but others could use it for other reasons. Does anyone else know anything on this?

It will be a mouse with enough human genes so that it can be compatable for grafting. Not some sort of 4' tall humanoid with huge ears, buck teeth, and a tail.

I've read about this, scientists have been able to manipulate a mouse so that a human ear grow's on it's back, which can be used to replace a damaged or dismembered ear

yes your right. i have seen a picture in my local newspaper awhile back. the picture had a hairless, pinkish rat or mouse with a human ear grown on its back. the ear was perfect in every way, shape, size etc...

"Attack of teh Killor Eary Rats"
...
Scary.

i seem to recall that that ear was a result of surgically implanting cartilage and not of genetic manipulation. anyone remember the dsc/tlc article?

From what I understand, they've been doing that with pigs for a few years already...Mainly because there's a lot of genetic simularity for the purpose of organ transplants...

...In a way, I've met a few people in my life who are more like pigs than humans...

Check out the glowing rabbit :



LINK

(muahahaha!) cool, whatever next? could be an interesting nightclub look for humans...

anyway, i heard something else about cloning. its in Italy. some doctor- the one who delivered the baby by a 65 year old (urrgh) has cloned 3 babies and the first one's gonna be born in about 3 days. eek, bet that won't go down too well....

oops, i correct myself, the babies due January some time (apparently)

Yeh.

The mouse DID NOT grow an ear on it's back.

The ear shape was an implant, and then the mouses skin grew over the top of it.

Originally posted by Project_Blazon
yes your right. i have seen a picture in my local newspaper awhile back. the picture had a hairless, pinkish rat or mouse with a human ear grown on its back. the ear was perfect in every way, shape, size etc...

is this what you were talking about?

remember the glowing mice?

Man-Beast Hybrids On The
Way - Human DNA In Cow Egg
By Scott Foster
The Edmonton Journal
nationalpost.com...
8-22-1

Melding man and beast may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but it's not.

Amid all the advances in genetic manipulation, the idea of combining the DNA of animals and humans has gone beyond the talking stage -- it's been attempted.

Indeed, many scientists and academics are wondering how far it might go and what the ethical implications would be. If a human were crossed with a chimpanzee, for example, would it still be human? And if not, then what would it be?

The first publicized case of animal-human hybrids took place in 1996 when Jose Cibelli, a scientist at the University of Massachusetts, took DNA from his white blood cells by swabbing the inside of his cheek. He then inserted the DNA sample into a hollowed-out cow egg.

Cibelli's experiment came to an end after a week of growing the cell mass, he told scientists earlier this month at a panel meeting of the National Academy of Sciences in Washington, D.C.

This raised the question of what might have emerged had the cell mass continued to develop.

"As far as we know, it would still look like a human being, but some of the characteristics of individual cells might be slightly different," said James Cross, a molecular biologist at the University of Calgary who attended the meeting.

If such an embryo could develop, he said, the result would resemble a human being but carry bovine mitochondria, the energy-producing component of every cell. This is because the cow's egg shell, or cytoplasm, contains genetic materials known as mitochondrial DNA.

"This suggests that we can create new human-animal species," said Jeremy Rifkin, biotechnology critic and president of the Washington-based Foundation on Economic Trends.

Rifkin called the experiment "the most extraordinary single development in the history of biotechnology."

Such experiments have become public only when the makers of hybrids, who fund their operations through investor capital, apply to patent their inventions.

In partnership with Massachusetts-based Advanced Cell Technology, Cibelli came out from under a shroud of secrecy in 1998 when the firm applied to patent the alleged invention.

Last October, Greenpeace Germany dug up a patent claim for a similar human-animal hybrid, only this time it involved a pig. U.S.-based Biotransplant and Australia-based Stem Cell Sciences grew a pig-human embryo to 32 cells before ending its life.

"If the embryo had lived, it would be 95% human," said Michael Khoo, a genetic engineering campaigner for Greenpeace's Toronto branch. "The possibilities are not only frightening, but it's unknown just how many other similar patent applications are out there."

Meanwhile, critics and futurists are having a field day speculating on the future of biotechnology.

"Chimpanzees share between 95% and 98% of our genes, so the prospect of creating a human-chimpanzee hybrid are highly probable," Rifkin said. "The question becomes: What percentage of human genes will it take before human rights kick in? Would a hybrid have to look and talk like a human before it can get human rights?"

While the concept of making and owning such a creation for 20 years under patent law is controversial to say the least, the science behind combining animal eggs and human DNA could be useful, said Cross. "In the case of Dolly, it took 277 eggs to get the sheep. In normal IVF programs, the number of eggs you get usually ranges between five and 10. So, to solve a potential shortage, some scientists have considered using an egg from a different species to house human DNA."

While such an attempt to improve the egg supply may be scientifically possible, people are not ready for such a brave new world which involves crossing the species barrier, said Diane Cox, who chairs the medical genetics department at the University of Alberta. "Right now, technology is way ahead of ethics. The Canadian population is worried enough about relatively trivial things, let alone such a bizarre concept."
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