May 24, 2002
Melding man and beast may sound like the stuff of science fiction, but it's
not.
Amid all the advances in genetic manipulation, the idea of combining the DNA
of animals and humans has gone beyond the talking stage -- it's been attempted.
Indeed, many scientists and academics are wondering how far it might go and
what the ethical implications would be. If a human were crossed with a chimpanzee,
for example, would it still be human? And if not, then what would it be?
The first publicized case of animal-human hybrids took place in 1996 when Jose
Cibelli, a scientist at the University of Massachusetts, took DNA from his white
blood cells by swabbing the inside of his cheek. He then inserted the DNA sample
into a hollowed-out cow egg.
Cibelli's experiment came to an end after a week of growing the cell mass, he
told scientists earlier this month at a panel meeting of the National Academy
of Sciences in Washington, D.C.
This raised the question of what might have emerged had the cell mass continued
to develop.
"As far as we know, it would still look like a human being, but some of
the characteristics of individual cells might be slightly different," said
James Cross, a molecular biologist at the University of Calgary who attended
the meeting.
If such an embryo could develop, he said, the result would resemble a human
being but carry bovine mitochondria, the energy-producing component of every
cell. This is because the cow's egg shell, or cytoplasm, contains genetic materials
known as mitochondrial DNA.
"This suggests that we can create new human-animal species," said
Jeremy Rifkin, biotechnology critic and president of the Washington-based Foundation
on Economic Trends.
Rifkin called the experiment "the most extraordinary single development
in the history of biotechnology."
Such experiments have become public only when the makers of hybrids, who fund
their operations through investor capital, apply to patent their inventions.
In partnership with Massachusetts-based Advanced Cell Technology, Cibelli came
out from under a shroud of secrecy in 1998 when the firm applied to patent the
alleged invention.
Last October, Greenpeace Germany dug up a patent claim for a similar human-animal
hybrid, only this time it involved a pig. U.S.-based Biotransplant and Australia-based
Stem Cell Sciences grew a pig-human embryo to 32 cells before ending its life.
"If the embryo had lived, it would be 95% human," said Michael Khoo,
a genetic engineering campaigner for Greenpeace's Toronto branch. "The
possibilities are not only frightening, but it's unknown just how many other
similar patent applications are out there."
Meanwhile, critics and futurists are having a field day speculating on the future
of biotechnology.
"Chimpanzees share between 95% and 98% of our genes, so the prospect of
creating a human-chimpanzee hybrid are highly probable," Rifkin said. "The
question becomes: What percentage of human genes will it take before human rights
kick in? Would a hybrid have to look and talk like a human before it can get
human rights?"
While the concept of making and owning such a creation for 20 years under patent
law is controversial to say the least, the science behind combining animal eggs
and human DNA could be useful, said Cross. "In the case of Dolly, it took
277 eggs to get the sheep. In normal IVF programs, the number of eggs you get
usually ranges between five and 10. So, to solve a potential shortage, some
scientists have considered using an egg from a different species to house human
DNA."
While such an attempt to improve the egg supply may be scientifically possible,
people are not ready for such a brave new world which involves crossing the
species barrier, said Diane Cox, who chairs the medical genetics department
at the University of Alberta. "Right now, technology is way ahead of ethics.
The Canadian population is worried enough about relatively trivial things, let
alone such a bizarre concept."
• Story originally published by:
The Edmonton Journal via
National Post, Toronto / ON | Scott Foster - Aug 22.01
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