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September 21st, 2007 11:58 AM #1
Britain to allow creation of human-animal embryos
Agence France-Presse
Last updated 11:05pm (Mla time) 09/05/2007
LONDON -- Britain's fertility regulator decided in principle Wednesday to allow scientists to create human-animal hybrid embryos for research purposes.
The Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA) gave the go-ahead to controversial plans to create "cytoplasmic" embryos, which merge human cells with eggs from animals such as cattle.
Applications to proceed from researchers at Newcastle University in northeast England and King's College London can now be appraised by a license committee in November.
Scientists argue such research could pave the way for therapies for diseases like Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
An HFEA consultation found that people were "at ease" with the proposals once the possible implications had been explained.
"It does seem a little abhorrent at first analysis, but you have to understand we are using very, very little information from the cow in order to do this reprogramming idea," said Doctor Lyle Armstrong, of Newcastle University, according to the BBC.
"It's not our intention to create any bizarre cow-human hybrid, we want to use those cells to understand how to make human stem cells better."
The research involves transferring nuclei containing DNA from human cells to animal eggs that have had nearly all their genetic information removed.
The resulting embryos are therefore mostly human, with a small animal component.
Stem cells, which can grow into different kinds of tissue, are then formed.
The embryos could give researchers a large supply of stem cells to work with.
Scientists have had to rely on human eggs left over from fertility treatment, which are in short supply and often poor quality.
Doctor Evan Harris, science spokesman for the opposition Liberal Democrats, coordinated the campaign of scientific groups to allow hybrid embryo research.
"This is good news for patients, the public and UK science," he said of the HFEA's verdict.
"Our top-class researchers can now proceed with their applications to conduct this world-leading research.
"The message to the government is also clear -- that they should stop trying to use legislation to block some forms of hybrid embryo research and instead allow the HFEA to consider each application on its merits."
Naku! e di magkakaroon tayo ng mga creatures tulad sa Star Wars o Alien!
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September 21st, 2007 01:30 PM #2
why does this sound like The Island of Dr. Moreau
for those who aren't familiar, here's a link:
http://everything2.com/index.pl?node...node_id=651128
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September 21st, 2007 02:02 PM #3
reminds me of a simpsons episode where they spoofed the island of dr. moreau.. seriously, are you sure you didnt get this from www.weeklyworldnews.com?
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September 21st, 2007 02:33 PM #5
This is certainly worrying.
There are actually animals injected with human genes (i.e. human milk producing pigs and goats), but humans with animal genes? I've heard from a professor here that "cow-people" have actually been made in the lab, but were terminated in the embryonic stage (sa s. korea ata ito).
For sure in the process of this research, there will be alot of human or part-human embryos that will be destroyed or discarded. There's no sure-shot way to make a perfect hybrid on the first try.
That or these scientists have been watching too many cartoons, and have finally decided on making anthropomorphic talking animals.
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Tsikoteer
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September 22nd, 2007 02:20 AM #8
This is interesting research. I'm taking up Stem Cell Biology right now and there's not a whole lot of information yet. Let's see what happens during the 64-200 cell count of the blastocyte and see whether the embryonic stem cells are viable multipotent cells and what differences they have over other human ESC's.
Well consider it this way, we are all part-animal as we are all derived from "lesser" species. It may not be a pure result when the embryo develops but that's why they're trying to figure it out.
For what it's worth, acquiring the embryonic stem cells is a less than 3% chance so it's very small. This is the part when the somatic cells are fused with the oocyte nucleus and activated. The positive side of things are more promising such as spinal cord injuries that have completely healed after grafting stem cells in the "bridge" they made on the portion of the severed spinal cord. The stem cells have been shown to communicate with normal somatic cells around the area and it's akin to them asking, "What cells are you? What cells do we need to become?" The stem cells will then differentiate into their corresponding cells and merge with the spinal cord tissue to reconnect the ends. It takes a while but it works, because after a few weeks or days yata the lab mouse was shown to be walking perfectly after the surgery, when previously, its hind legs were paralyzed typical of lumbar spinal cord injuries. But that's all they determined, they weren't knowledgeable yet on how the muscle "feel" became if the mice lost it or if it still has to be done via therapy (PT's and OT's). These concerns are all valid and still have no concrete answers.
Keep an open mind na lang.
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September 22nd, 2007 08:06 PM #10
Sir, nagawa na nila to gamit ang embryonic stem cells? Last time I heard, adult stem cells (marrow cells) palang ang nagamit nila for organ repair.
There are alot of moral issues concerning these embryonic stem cells - people think that fertilized eggs are already people, and that taking a couple of cells from these eggs would destroy these eggs.
I hope researchers find a way to induce the more "morally palatable" adult stem cells to become totipotent using either genes or cell-signal molecules.
I just can't imagine any fathomable advantages on combining the human genome onto animal cells over using just human cells.
yes, I think I do sound like some kind of nerd. hehe
Katamaran. Lalo na yung mga really old cars na 2nd or 3rd owner na, and sold off for mga 80k and...
LTO car registration and late registration fees