Animal-human embryos

[Matt510]

telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/03/01/nembryo01.xml

news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/7310918.stm

OK, I’m fairly sure on the reasons against the use of human embyos, and why adult stem cell research is supported - but I’m just looking fon a little help on the intricacies of the Church’s stance on this subject.

I mean, creating mutants animal-human forms (and those that are 99.9% human, at that) is just plain wrong to me, but I’m looking a little more substance from a morality point of view.

 

[JCismywingman]

i guess some times one has to look from a point of the greater good? i’ve still not come to any stand regarding cybrids/chimeras and my spiritual advisor still hasn’t gotten back to me regarding this matter.

at this moment, if i’m not wrong, the Catholic Church hasn’t come up with an official stand on this matter? at least not in my country yet though it’s been talked about in the local catholic newsletter.

the main thing that irks me now is whether the cybrid/chimera is a ‘human’ with a soul, an animal that’s part human with no soul, an animal with a human soul or an animal with a part soul.

would killing this cybrid/chimera than me the same as killing embryos?

sorry i got into more questions…

 

[Matt510]

No, no, go right ahead - it’s a murky topic as far as I can see, and you’ve certainly got on to some of the questions I was thinking of.

 

[lampstand]

I don’t even know why they need to do that. I’m sure I don’t know the most of anyone on this topic, but even to me, it seems they ought to be able to do this type of research another way… Just my guess.

 

[JCismywingman]

I don’t even know why they need to do that. I’m sure I don’t know the most of anyone on this topic, but even to me, it seems they ought to be able to do this type of research another way… Just my guess.

well, i guess to add my few cents, this was an alternative that scientists have found to ‘get around’ using human embryos (which in many places is now banned or have really strict regulations or in short supply).

from my limited knowledge and what i’ve deduced, having cybrids is more of a convenience since

1. you may see it as an animal which would allow one to follow codes of practice that relates to animal research/experiments
   example when you want to get rid of it, it would simply be gased like a lab rat
2. you get the benefits of actual human cells from the cybrid since the animal is merely the host for the 99+% human nuclei which will give you human stem cells which may then be put to what ever use you may want since the stem cells are undifferentiated at this point - similar to embryonic stem cells

personally, i’m going into genetics research, and frankly at this point, i’m not sure if this is the path i should head down (although i’m already in my final year at university).

 

[rpp]

I just cannot understand how a person, a researcher, can do this.

Even before my conversion when I was a pro-abortion atheist, I would have been appalled at the prospect of some sort of human-animal hybrid.

Haven’t these people read H. G. Wells’ The Island of Dr. Moreau?

 

[Rosalinda]

I like this website LifeIssues. net. All their essays are very well documented. This article from the National Catholic Bioethics Center entitled “An Overview of Hybrids and Chimeras” is one such example.

[sign]

Significantly changing the identity of an organism by combining human and nonhuman cellular or genetic material (especially at the embryonic or fetal stage) could be construed as a violation of the dignity of the human person. John Paul II, in his “Theology of the Body,” uses the term “original solitude” to refer to the human condition of man, including his distinctness from the animals.50 Genesis 2:19 states that “the Lord God formed out of the ground various wild animals and various birds of the air, and he brought them to the man to see what he would call them.” John Paul II describes this as a “test” and a way for man to understand his place in creation better: The first meaning of man’s original solitude is defined on the basis of a specific test or examination which man undergoes before God (and in a certain way also before himself). By means of this test, man becomes aware of his own superiority, that is, that he cannot be considered on the same footing as any other species of living beings on the earth[/sign]

You can read the entire article here and find many more like them.

lifeissues.net/writers/sey/sey_03overview1.html

 

[mapleoak]

Makes you wonder if there is some truth to ancient Greek mythology and mythological creatures. People at one time had advanced their society to such a degree they had to be destroyed for their arrogance.