Article on Human-Animal Research

Article on Human-Animal Research

There’s an extensive AP story today (I read mine in the San Jose Mercury News) about mixing human cells with animals in stem cell research and concerns that people have about possibly “humanizing” animals or creating chimeras (animal-human hybrids). One researcher, for example, is trying to grow embryonic stem cells inside rabbit eggs so as to eliminate the need for egg donors. He has not succeeded thus far. It’s old news to put human cells inside mice, but some researchers are putting human cells inside animal brains, and that is causing concern. The scientists doing it say that it is biologically impossible for the cells to become human brains, given the shape of the animals’ skulls, the way their existing brain and nervous system functions, and so on. Human cells have also been successfully grown in goat embryos.

This is not something I wake in the middle of the night scared about. If there were a chance that a human could be made out of an animal, that would be bad—but none of the researchers are anywhere near that, nor are they trying. Will there be human genetic engineering at some point? Probably. Will it be unethical? That depends.

My neighbor bought nine chicks this spring to raise for eggs. They have an open run space of about 20x15, and most of them are active, clucky, and happy. Two of the chickens, however, have huge breasts, waddle around, and spend most of their time sitting and looking rather uncomfortable. They can’t even fly up to a roost. They were bred to be eaten, not to lay eggs. They do not act or look like normal birds. Creating monsters for human use has already happened. You might have one for dinner tonight.

Stem Cell Firewalls

Stem Cell Firewalls

Bloomberg had an extensive story a few days ago about the lengths to which universities are going to make sure that they avoid the use of federal funding for new embryonic stem cell research. Separate facilities (Harvard’s is in an undisclosed location for fear of violence from opponents of the research), separate equipment, even separation of graduate students working in the labs:

Harvard graduate students and research fellows paid with federal grants aren't allowed to collaborate with their colleagues in the lab of 52-year old stem cell researcher Douglas Melton. The restrictions create awkward situations, he said. Researchers receiving NIH funds technically aren't supposed to participate in a discussion over lunch with colleagues conducting privately funded experiments, he said.

There’s more, but really it’s all very depressing. Without collaboration, science is significantly weaker. I guess perhaps this is the goal of limiting the research—to weaken it to the point where it crawls off into a corner and dies—but it’s bad for science overall when people have to work in an atmosphere with such restrictions. A lot of embryonic stem cell research has provided important information for other biological fields—information about how particular genes function, about how cells develop, mediums to grow cells so that they look and act more like in vitro cells, and so on. To use a cliché, it’s cutting off your nose to spite your face to have a set up like this.

EU Commission Approves Funds for hESC Research

EU Commission Approves Funds for hESC Research

Well, it’s been a pretty hectic couple of days personally but actually there hasn’t been too much that I missed covering. The big event is that the European Union Commission approved funding for embryonic stem cell research. According to the BBC, funding cannot be allocated to countries which have banned the research. All EU member states have to approve the new rules, which were part of a larger science research budget (described in The Scientist), before they can take effect. The rules do not allow the use of any embryos created more recently than June 27, 2002, but there is no date limiting the stem cell lines derived from any embryos. The embryos are left over from in vitro fertilization procedures.

The Vatican responded quickly with a condemnation. Catholic World News quotes much of what was said, none of which is unexpected or different from the Church’s position to date.

Essentially what this means is that scientists in countries which permit hESC research will have--if the budget is approved--a larger source of funding than their own governments alone.