Chimera (modern hybrid)
Chimeras, also known as human-animal hybrids, less commonly as parahumans, are modern-day, biotechnologically created human-animal hybrids that are considered the closest to the fabled image of a furry being.
Overview[edit]
Chimeras are so based on the Greek mythological creature, the Chimera, a monstrous being made of the parts of multiple animals.
Creation[edit]
Chimeras are created either by mixing human and animal gametes (sperms and eggs), or by transferring reproductive cells from a human being to a non-human embryo.
Today's specimens normally carry between 1 to 5 percent of human genomes, and they are not normally allowed to reach adulthood, being terminated early after birth for experimental, or ethical, reasons.
Mice lead the way as the prime organism for these trans-species experimentations, which have sparked a huge controversy within and without the biotechnological world.[citation needed]
Mainstream ban[edit]
While animal-to-animal chimeras and chimeral cell-created monoclonal antibodies for pharmaceutical use are normally accepted in modern society, the possible creation (even accidental) of self-aware animal-human hybrids has generated such ethical concerns, as to have been banned, or in the process of being banned, by several nations.
Foremost has been Canada's Stem Cell Oversight Committee, which passed the Assisted Human Reproduction Act ( 2004, c. 2 ), which bans the creation of such beings by transference of a nonhuman cell into a human embryo, or vice-versa.
There are currently no U.S. federal laws that address this issue, even after former President George W. Bush requested such legislation on his 2006's State of the Union Address.[1]
The only legislation ever proposed to address this issue in the USA, Kansas House Bill 2952, which would have made it a felony to:
| (C)reate or attempt to create a hybrid embryo or 'non-human life form' with human brain tissue.[2] |
The bill was struck down on March 26, 2006.
On February 29, 2024, American Republican senator Cindy Hyde-Smith blocked an in-vitro fertilization (IVF) protection bill[citation needed] by United States Senator Ladda Tammy Duckworth, because shes entailed that It would lead to the creation of "'human-animal chimeras".
References[edit]
- ↑ 2006 State of the Union Address transcript on the White House's website, accesed via the Internet Wayback Machine. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
- ↑ House rejects bill to ban human cloning article on Reuters. Retrieved March 1, 2024.
See also[edit]
External links[edit]
- Chimeras search results in DeviantArt
- Chimeras search results in Fur Affinity
Media[edit]
- National Geographic news' Animal-Human Hybrids Spark Controversy article article on National Geographic
- Scientists create partial human-sheep chimeras article on Thisislondon.co.uk
- Britain set to approve Human-Animal hybrid clones article on Lifesite.net/
- First Human-Animal embryo trials to go ahead in Britain article on The Times
- Kansas anti-abortion group asks candidates for stance on cloning, ‘human-animal hybrids’ article on The Kansas City Star
- Republican Blocks IVF Bill Because It Could Lead to 'Human-Animal Chimeras' article on Newsweek