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Old 01-27-2017, 02:20 PM
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Default Chimera

Should this scare the shit out of me? because it kind of does.:scaredhug:

Please talk me down from the ledge.

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So far, none of the interspecies embryos have been allowed to grow beyond four weeks. However, the experiments are raising profoundly sticky moral and ethical issues — including the remote but not impossible risk human cells intended to morph into a new liver, pancreas or heart could wend their way up to the animal’s brain. Could that part-human chimera somehow develop human consciousness?

The more human-like we make living organisms the more valuable for research purposes they become, says Timothy Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in health law and policy. “But of course the more we humanize an animal, the more we raise questions about animal ethics,” he said.

The work also provokes a kind of psychological and visceral creepiness. “The first concern is public perception: does it violate some notion of boundaries, or the natural order of things,” says renowned bioethicist Arthur Caplan.
U.S. scientists create human-pig chimera embryos to grow human cells
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Old 01-27-2017, 04:31 PM
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Default Re: Chimera

:piginablanket:
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Old 01-27-2017, 04:47 PM
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Default Re: Chimera

Somebody must've been watching too much Archer.

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Old 01-27-2017, 05:26 PM
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Default Re: Chimera

OK, thought experiment. If a pig-human chimera embryo is implanted into a human female's womb, how would fundie Republicans deal with it? An abomination that must be terminated? but wait abortion is an abomination? :headasplode:
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Old 01-27-2017, 06:05 PM
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Default Re: Chimera

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Man View Post
Somebody must've been watching too much Archer.

That'll do, Piggly. That'll do.
Awww, Piggly.

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Originally Posted by JoeP View Post
OK, thought experiment. If a pig-human chimera embryo is implanted into a human female's womb, how would fundie Republicans deal with it? An abomination that must be terminated? but wait abortion is an abomination? :headasplode:
They don't have quite the aversion to pork as religions do (yes, "Republican" being a religion, obviously) so I'm betting they make her carry it to term.
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Old 01-27-2017, 06:30 PM
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Originally Posted by JoeP View Post
OK, thought experiment. If a pig-human chimera embryo is implanted into a human female's womb, how would fundie Republicans deal with it? An abomination that must be terminated? but wait abortion is an abomination? :headasplode:
Easy. The question is not "what is it?" but rather "is it in ladyparts?" If yes, must be carried to term, because of lady.
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Old 01-27-2017, 07:03 PM
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Default Re: Chimera

I'm not any less terrified. :brooding:
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Old 01-27-2017, 07:31 PM
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Default Re: Chimera

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Originally Posted by Ensign Steve View Post
They don't have quite the aversion to pork as religions do (yes, "Republican" being a religion, obviously) so I'm betting they make her carry it to term.
They would pass legislation requiring all the rest of the dirty whores to have pig-human chimera embryos implanted into them as well.

They can shoot them after they come out.
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Old 01-27-2017, 08:19 PM
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Default Re: Chimera

It's exceedingly unlikely that a human/pig or human/whatever chimera could develop a brain architecture that would support human-like intelligence. For one thing, no one (to my knowledge) is seriously suggesting that we try to grow human brains in pigs or other animals.

That having been said ... it's theoretically possible that we might someday decide to use pigs or other animals to grow brain tissue for eventual transplant. For instance, we might someday want to use pigs to produce human brain tissue to replace brain tissue lost to Alzheimer's, for example.


Still, the idea of a pig/human chimera developing human-like intelligence is pretty far-fetched.

And the idea that a pig that has been engineered to produce human gametes could somehow successfully mate with another pig and produce a pig/human hybrid is pretty much pure fantasy. It's no more likely than that a human could directly mate with a pig and produce a pig/human hybrid.



This is not to suggest that the process doesn't raise some very real ethical concerns. For example, some people have semi-seriously suggested creating human/chimpanzee chimeras. Given how closely-related chimps and humans are, I could foresee the very real possibility of producing a self-aware chimp/human chimera. [And who's to say that chimpanzees aren't self-aware already?] What would be the rights of such an individual, if any?

Some people have suggested using similar techniques to produce a living Neanderthal. What rights would such an individual have? Would (s)he be considered the property of his/her "creators"? Would (s)he be considered fully human, with all the legal rights that entails?



On a vaguely-related note, this is one of the things that really bugged me when watching the movie Jurassic World. They keep calling their genetically-engineered Indomitus rex a "hybrid." No it wasn't; it was a transgenic organism! [All of the "dinosaurs" on the island were transgenic organisms, for that matter -- if any of them were hybrids, the movie provided nothing to suggest that was the case.]

Note to the movie-makers: If you can't even get the basic terminology right, then stop trying to pretend that you have any idea what you're talking about -- it's just embarrassing.
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Old 01-27-2017, 08:58 PM
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Default Re: Chimera

Quote:
Originally Posted by The Lone Ranger View Post
This is not to suggest that the process doesn't raise some very real ethical concerns. For example, some people have semi-seriously suggested creating human/chimpanzee chimeras. Given how closely-related chimps and humans are, I could foresee the very real possibility of producing a self-aware chimp/human chimera. [And who's to say that chimpanzees aren't self-aware already?] What would be the rights of such an individual, if any?
Have you followed the web comic "Freefall"? (It's been around over a decade and now a huge read so I'll drop bullet points on what it touches on.)

-Setting is a world under colonization and terraforming, atmosphere is breathable but protein in the diet is mainly insects at this juncture.
-Interstellar travel is in the decades and cryonics is the way to go.
-Protagonist is an alien squid beast thing, and his faithful robot companion.
-Other protagonist is a genetically uplifted wolf.

It was intended as comedy, but the author brought in intricacies of terraforming, the problems of being a species with only 20 members, and what do you do with democracy when considering granting citizenship to robots and artificial intelligences when they outnumber humans ten thousand to one.

You personally might find it interesting to work through when idling or on public transit or whatever.
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Old 01-27-2017, 09:38 PM
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Originally Posted by The Lone Ranger View Post
And the idea that a pig that has been engineered to produce human gametes could somehow successfully mate with another pig and produce a pig/human hybrid is pretty much pure fantasy. It's no more likely than that a human could directly mate with a pig and produce a pig/human hybrid.
British politicians have been trying this.

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Old 01-28-2017, 05:22 AM
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Still, the idea of a pig/human chimera developing human-like intelligence is pretty far-fetched.
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Old 01-28-2017, 05:36 AM
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Default Re: Chimera

I for one welcome our human-pig hybrid overlords.
May their enemies swiftly perish.

If only the brain is human, is eating the rump cannabalism?
Asking for a friend.
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Old 01-28-2017, 01:58 PM
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Old 01-29-2017, 07:33 AM
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Default Re: Chimera

And then there's



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