Pig-Human Chimeras

[BaalChatzaf]

Please see  https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jun/05/organ-research-scientists-combine-human-stem-cells-and-pig-dna

I must tell you that this article caused my flesh to crawl  a bit.  What if a pig fetus went to term  with a quasi human brain?

Ugh!

 

Ba'al Chatzaf 

[william.scherk]

From the  New Scientist: the story in fifty-nine seconds:

 

Edited June 6, 2016 by william.scherk
Added link.

[jts]

3 hours ago, BaalChatzaf said:

Please see  https://www.theguardian.com/science/2016/jun/05/organ-research-scientists-combine-human-stem-cells-and-pig-dna

I must tell you that this article caused my flesh to crawl  a bit.  What if a pig fetus went to term  with a quasi human brain?

Ugh!

 

Ba'al Chatzaf 

Your emotional reaction is not an argument.

Someone will say a pig with a quasi human brain is 'unnatural', whatever that means. Bullshit. DNA is as natural as you can get, if that word has any meaning.

GMOs are not new. Genetic modification of organisms has been going on for hundreds of millions of years. Every living thing is genetically modified.

--------

A slightly more rational argument (more rational than a mere emotional reaction) might go something like this:

1. DNA has some resemblance to software (written in C or Javascript or whatever). A programmer does the code - test -code -test cycle. Write or change a small amount of code, then test; repeat. Evolution does the same; makes a small change in DNA,, then tests with many individuals over several generations.

2. What scientists do is make a big change in DNA and little or no testing. This is like a programmer writing lots of code with little or no testing.

 

[Brant Gaede]

Once they harvest the pancreas they'll have to give piggy insulin shots.

--Brant

[BaalChatzaf]

1 hour ago, jts said:

Your emotional reaction is not an argument.

And I never said it was.  I said it was an emotional reaction and that is all it was.  I am sure all of us have something to which we respond  -eeeccchhh!

[duncan_bayne]

On 07/06/2016 at 1:16 AM, BaalChatzaf said:

I must tell you that this article caused my flesh to crawl  a bit.  What if a pig fetus went to term  with a quasi human brain?

It'd wind up running for President.

[BaalChatzaf]

42 minutes ago, duncan_bayne said:

It'd wind up running for President.

The sow would be Hillary and the boar would be named Donald.

[Jonathan]

At this rate, ManBearPig will be real within the next ten years. I'm super serial.

J

[atlashead]

but think about the pig!; billions of years of evolution and then all of a sudden we're playing god!
WHAT IF THAT PIG HAS CONSCIOUSNESS???

I've had general anesthesia, i'm not sure where to start looking what body systems it first affects-but i'm pretty sure it's in the brain.  I think we should scrap building organs in animals and do it in brainless things, if that's what general anesthesia affects.

-A resident vegan

[BaalChatzaf]

On 6/8/2016 at 2:46 PM, Jonathan said:

At this rate, ManBearPig will be real within the next ten years. I'm super serial.

J

Not a chance...

[jts]

They already have a creature that is about 30,000 (or whatever) parts goat and 1 part spider. They took a spider gene and put it in a goat. The goat's milk has spider silk.

They have a cat with a jellyfish gene and it glows in the dark.

They have a cow that produces human-like milk.

The don't yet have the ManBearPig but they are working on it.

Some day there will be humans with nonhuman genes. This will eventually lead to discussions about the legal status of GM humans. How many nonhuman genes will be enough to disqualify you from being human? Will you have rights? Will you be allowed to compete in the Olympics?

These creatures could not happen by mere selection, natural or artificial. They are made by a gene gun. GMO should not be confused with normal genetic modification. The term "genetically modified" as commonly used does not refer to the genetic modification that has been going on for hundreds of millions of years.