DNA from two different organisms?
Chimera?.... hybrids.... good or bad.....
An example of a sheep-goat chimera.Typically seen in zoology (but also discovered to a rare extent in human beings), a chimera is an animal that has two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells that originated in different zygotes; if the different cells emerged from the same zygote, it is called a mosaicism. Chimerism in human beings has very few (about 40) reported cases
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Concerns About Chimera Research
This is an excerpt from an article on Chimeras at the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota. Their website is located at: http://www.ahc.umn.edu/bioethics/
While not completely opposed to the research, some experts and interested members of the public raise concerns about techniques and possible outcomes if initial problems are ignored. Their major concerns are the following:
Could chimeras have human brains?
If a chimera's brain is comprised of mostly human neurons with an appropriate structure, experts are questioning whether a human brain—and mind—could develop within an animal or human-animal body. The National Academies Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research cautions that experiments in which there is a possibility that human cells could contribute in a "major organized way" to the brain of an animal require strong scientific justification.
Projects such as the following give rise to questions regarding chimeras with human brains:
* Researchers at Stanford University are injecting human neural stem cells into mouse fetuses to study development of neurologic diseases (see project description in Definition section, above). Initial results were mice with brains that were about 1% human, but researchers could increase that percentage to 100% human brains in the laboratory mice. They anticipate that the structures of the brain, and certainly the size, would still be mouse-like even though the neurons of the brain would be 100% human. Responding to concerns that the experiment could result in brains that were more human than mouse, Stanford University's ethics committee has approved the research on the condition that if the mice developed indicators of human intelligence, such as improved memory or problem-solving, it would be time to stop the project.
* At St. Kitts Biomedical Foundation in the Caribbean, scientists are transplanting immature human brain cells into the brains of vervet monkeys, generating a human-monkey chimera.xxi This kind of research could create human-primate chimeras, with human brain cells.
An expert panel was convened by John Hopkins University in 2005 to study the potential for just such human-primate experiments to significantly change the cognitive and emotional capacities of primates—in effect, to humanize them.
The Working Group on Interspecific Chimeric Brains consisted of primatologists and other scientists, ethicists, and lawyers. They concluded that any shift in brain capacities toward the human end of the spectrum would be more likely to occur if human brain cells were introduced early in the development of the brains of great apes. Experiments in which small numbers of human cells were grafted into healthy adult brains of the most distantly related monkey species were the least likely to raise concerns.
What is the potential for humanized chimeras?
If human embryonic stem cells were to be injected into an animal embryo very early in its development, the human cells might spread through every organ system in the animal embryo. Conversely, animal embryonic stem cells could do the same thing when introduced into an early-stage human embryo. The results of such techniques could be a humanized animal (or animalized human), with physical features and behaviors that are distinctly human.
Considering this possible outcome, the National Academies' Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research say that no animal embryonic stem cells should be transplanted into a human blastocyst (early embryo). In addition, approval by an Embryonic Stem Cell Research Oversight committee should be secured before any human embryonic stem cells are put into an animal.
Could chimeras mate and produce human offspring?
If a female chimera with human ova (egg cells) mated with a male chimera with human sperm cells, scientists believe that it would be possible for a human fetus to be the result. Potentially, a chimera could give birth to a human. To address this issue, the National Academies Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research states: “No animal into which human embryonic stem cells have been introduced at any stage of development should be allowed to breed.”
How will human-primate chimeras be treated?
While already being used a t St. Kitts Biomedical Foundation (mentioned above), primates are likely to be the animal of choice in some human-animal chimera projects because of their close genetic similarities (especially in chimpanzees) to humans. While the guidelines state that “no human embryonic stem cells should be put into nonhuman primate blastocysts [early embryos],” they do not exclude chimera research at a later stage of development. While some oppose this research outright, others are assuming that human-primate chimeras will become more widespread in research and question whether they will be treated as humans or animals.
A.M. Chakrabarty, of the University of Illinois College of Medicine, asks:
"What is a human? This is not a question of the moral dilemma to define a human but is a legal requirement as to how much human material a chimpanzee must have before it is declared a part human and therefore falls under the protection of the Thirteenth Amendment….We must move beyond moral and philosophical discussions of hybrid human-nonhuman animals and be prepared to tackle the difficult legal questions that will attend not-so-distant attempts at creating such hybrids say for organ harvesting, for use as a subhuman species to perform hard manual labors, or simply for curiosity’s sake.”
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From the Center of Bioethics at the University of Minnesota:
Because human-animal chimeras contain human cells—or even tissues or organs that are primarily human—ethical concerns surround the question of just what or who chimeras are. Because they were created under laboratory conditions for research purposes, are chimeras lab animals? Or, will chimeras eventually be developed that are too human to be considered otherwise?
http://www.ahc.umn.edu/img/assets/25857/chimeras.pdf
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Your assignment is to respond to this prompt in 2 or 3 paragraphs.
Publish your response as a comment to this post. When stating your opinion, consider the bioethic positions of governments on medically related issues such as stem cell research, right-to-life / abortion policy, human cloning, organ transplants etc.
“Should your home country research programs / scientists have governmental support through tax dollars and facilities to pursue research on chimeras for use in organ transplants, neurological interventions or other possible applications to medicine?
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Blanca M
ReplyDeleteI believe Spain should have research programs; however,I do not agree in taxes being involved. Only people who want to fund these research programs should be the ones donating money.
The chimera research programs are aimed to help understand these creatures better and for now they have not caused any problems to humans. Many precautions are being used so these experiments do not get out of hand. For example, the Guidelines for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research says that no chimera will be allowed to reproduce. Also, the Stanford University said they would stop their research if any animals shows any sign of human intelligence. Due to all these things it would not be harmful to have a chimera research program.
This research is normally used for medical purposes. The chimera research could help our medical understanding of organ transplants, neurological interventions and in other ways. Not only would the chimera research not harm our community it could potentially benefit humans.
Chimera…Good or Bad
ReplyDeleteChimeras are made up of two or more different allogeneic hematopoietic cells through transfusion, transplantation or it is inherited. Though there is a lot to learn through mixing cells together to create a new organism, this experiment should not be continued. I believe that instead of wasting money, resources and possibly starting an apocalypse through this experiment, researchers should come up with a new way to solve medical issues.
The outcome from this experiment could lead to a humanized chimera. When this occurs, many questions would arise such as: “Would the chimera have to pass a test to win it’s freedom?” or “Would it be forced to do manual labor?”
There has always been a talk of a ‘zombie apocalypse’ and how the earth will be destroyed by a creature created by a disease. A possible outcome of humanizing a chimera could be that of a deadly disease leaked out into the world. If scientists mixed human cells with tiger cells, the humanized chimera would be another form of a zombie, a person who appears lifeless in their surroundings. Though there is a small chance of this happening, everything must be taken into consideration.
Maia D.
While experimenting with chimeras may lead to fascinating discoveries and has the potential to save lives, the current status of the world would make it an unwise decision to proceed with such research. Firstly, just the process of experimentation would have several moral issues. In order to make these chimeras, scientists need stem cells, which are still a topic that causes very heated debate. While I am all for stem cell research, I don't think that injecting them into animals at this point would help further stem cell development and would only make the people who are against it campaign harder. Further, I don't even want to imagine all of the legal issues that governments would have to deal with, deciding if these creatures are human or not. However, using them to grow organs or for other medicinal purposes would be an interesting idea, but then again there is the consideration that these things might be human.
ReplyDeleteThere is enough trouble nowadays with deciding human rights and laws such as abortion laws. Even issues such as racism and discrimination have not yet been fully dealt with. Just a few weeks ago there was a huge debate on a new abortion law that the Spanish government tried to pass. Therefore, experimenting with chimeras is a disaster waiting to happen as it stands currently, and governments should use their money to fix the problems that affect us now before worrying about such research. The ethical and moral issues that governments face today need to be solved first.
Julian A
Chimeras:
ReplyDeleteI believe that there should be research programs for this is Austria, but i do not believe that taxes should be involved only people who want to fund the research should have to pay money.
Chimeras seem like a strange thing to us because they are not just one thing but two at the same time. Human-animal chimeras obviously contain human cells, tissues or organs that are primarily human Due to the fact that they are under laboratory conditions for research purposes there are discussions whether or not chimeras should be considered lab animals. Eventually chimeras could become human to be considered “Lab animals”. I believe that they should be considered lab animals as long as they have more animal characteristics than human characteristics. However I do not believe that for example a chimera that consists of a monkey and a human should not be allowed to be used for testing medicine because it is closer to a human than anything else. Chimeras should be allowed to be created for research purposes for example just to see what kind of development would occur and how different a humanized animal/ animalized human would be from a normal animal or human. I think that chimeras may be useful for stem-cell research, and maybe help us figure out better and cheaper ways for organ transplantation.
Personally I believe that there should not be a category which is considered “Lab animals” because one might try to argue that it would be okay to execute tests for medicines, beauty products etc. on them I definitely believe that at some point there will chimeras that will be way too human to even be considered animal anymore. I do not believe that it is right to create a chimera that is so human like that it almost is a human, because there would be absolutely no point in doing that. As soon as we have an animal that is extremely human like, or a human that will be slightly animal like, there will be discussions about what to do like there is with abortion now. All these arguments could easily be avoided if we never create a chimera that is very human like. Also if we have human like chimeras they might reproduce and then there will be a discussion whether they should be allowed to do so and what to do with the offspring. I believe that human like chimeras will cause more problems than benefits and therefore it should be avoided to create something that is very human like.
isabella B.
Marina G
ReplyDeleteYes, I think my home country should support the pursue of research on chimeras for medical use through tax. Medical research is what makes the word advance in life so I have always thought any type of medical research can only benefit us. If scientists can create animals to use as organ transplants I personally think they should go through with it. However, there would be a huge debate in animal rights.
One thing that would bother me though would be if they were using our money to discover how to make a cat glow like in South Korea… Why on earth, would our well being depend on the luminescent glow of a cat or squirrel. Cats in the first place are hunters and making them glow would be a huge disadvantage to them and there is no substantial advantage for us so this would definitely be a case where I would completely agree with animal rights. If I were to pay tax which went to research on chimera I would want the research to be based strictly on the bettering of people and the planet and not crazy genetic engineering. A positive genetic engineering example would be the ‘pollution fighting plants’ which absorb ground water pollutants through the routes and then break them down into harmless by products that are released into the air.
Most importantly, I think that chimeras should come to a immediate stop once we are close to human-primate chimeras because once we are there, there will be a number of ethical questions which simply cannot be answered. To avoid chaos there should be NO human-primate chimeras created.
Chimeras Blog Post
ReplyDeleteChimeras are hybrids of living organisms that are produced by fusing two embryos or other techniques to create an animal that has the traits of both, distinct parents. Whether or not creating chimeras is a useful and productive development is a highly debatable topic. There are many questions regarding this research that is being carried out because we do not yet know what purpose can be given to the hybrid animals. Concerns are arising about chimeras having human brains and being able to think in a way 100% identical to humans. I think that the government should not support this research because scientists are carrying out this experiment mainly out of curiosity, yet they do not really know what use can come out of it.
Many people would argue that it would be cool to observe a mouse that is capable of thinking like a human. However, what other use is there for chimeras? Chimeras are what I think is a capricious development on the part of scientists and researchers, for I cannot see any useful thing being done with the poor animals that are subjected to such genetic manipulation. If scientists want to be able to grow organs inside other animals to facilitate transplant and improve medicine, there is already a technique that has been developed, like rats growing ears on their back, or even the growing of a human heart in pigs. This shows that if scientists want to use chimeras for medicine, there are already existing ways of doing it that do not require any hybridization of animals. In addition, as it says on the chimera article, chimeras with human brains could potentially show human intelligence, something that would shut down the project. Because of this, there is no point in experimenting with chimeras because the government would forbid it eventually when signs of animals showing the slightest possibly of being better than humans emerges. Lastly, I believe that forcibly giving animals characteristics of other animals or even humans is essentially stripping them of their nature and where they came from. Also, I think that animals have evolutioned well on their own and they do not need to become more like humans to make progress and keep up with times.
On the other hand, I am a firm supporter of scientific innovation and I love biology, so I do agree with the people in favour of chimeras in that it is definitely genetic progress to see animals exhibit human characteristics. I do have to admit that as much as I love seeing scientific progress, I do not think that chimeras could contribute anything important to the ourselves or the rest of the world’s animal kingdom. The consequences definitely outweigh the benefits of carrying out this experiment and if the government were to help it, it would be a huge financial investment with no significant outcome.
Camila B.
I believe that research programs should not use tax dollars and governmental facilities to pursue research on chimeras in organ transplants, neurological interventions or other possible applications to medicine. Just the experimentation alone can lead to a lot of controversy because stem cells would be needed for it. Stem cell research can lead to very interesting and maybe even useful discoveries, but there are too many moral and ethical questions surrounding it and it is a very controversial topic. There are already many human rights debates, for example on the subject of abortion. If this kind of research were funded by the government, there would be a lot of legal trouble.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, if this research on chimeras is continued, it should be funded by certain organizations or people who support it. If tax money were used to fund this type of research, there would probably be many protests from people who do not support it. Using chimeras for medical applications, like growing organs for transplants could potentially save lives, but there would be the debate about whether or not the chimeras are human and it could possibly become a human rights issue. Because it would be hard to evaluate what exactly the chimeras are, it would become a topic much too delicate for government involvement, especially the use of tax money to fund it.
Iines K.
Iines I completely agree with your point that this a topic that is very delicate and should not be funded by the government because of it. Also, I agree that the studies can be allowed by private organizations but I believe the extent of their research should be some what restricted. I believe this so we can prevent a lot of the moral issues that come with the study of chimeras.
DeleteCarmen A
As technology advances, scientists are able to do things that were unheard of ten years ago, for example, breeding chimeras. This scientific discovery could be very helpful in the future depending on the direction the research leads to. However, this discovery has led to further concerns of morality and human rights. This also brought up a concern on funding.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I believe that scientific research should be encouraged, the money for the research should not come from taxes, especially nowadays with the economic crisis. People can hardly meet their tax payments so the government shouldn't be adding in something else for them to pay for. Those who believe that the continuation of the research on chimeras is important should not be prevented from funding the investigation. To solve this issue, there should be programs or organizations to raise money for this type of investigation. It would be disappointing to see such interesting research go to waste, however it isn't the responsibility of every person to fund this project.
Elisa R
A chimera occurs when cells from two or three different species mix creating a hybrid. Scientists are now studying the outcome of implanting human cells into the fetuses of other organisms. These studies are meant to try to help in the medical field, such as for organ transplants or neurologic interventions. In addition, these studies bring up many moral issues. For example, when should we start considering these hybrids human or are they human? These questions all bring up great controversy similar to the controversy the right to abort brings.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, I do not believe Spain should have government-funded chimera study programs. Firstly, these programs don’t have as many positive results as it has negative. In other words, the controversy it bring and the future problems involving this issue are greater than any helpful scientific results this program may bring. In addition, I don’t believe the organs that these creatures may have will ever be human enough to be used in organ transplants because when they are the debate on whether that makes them a human or not will begin. This would make the discovery useless. Lastly, given the current state of the Spanish economy there isn’t enough money in the country for the few we have to get wasted in a experiment that will soon be deemed unmoral.
Carmen A
The Personal Genome Project is a project that studies the different types of genes and the sequence of chemical based pairs found in human DNA. These studies can help identify illnesses the tested person might have in the future as long as the sickness is in their DNA. For example, the studies can show if the tested person will have Alzheimer’s disease or breast cancer. This is an incredible scientific advancement as it helps the person tested know sickness they haven’t had yet. This advancement can also help when choosing a health insurance as the person tested will know if they need extra health coverage to cover what their future sickness needs might be. Also, it can help the sickness such as Alzheimer’s disease be treated from an earlier stage making it evolve at a slower pace.
ReplyDeletePersonally, I would not volunteer for the Personal Genome Project. I believe that sometimes there are people that when they know they will get sick they become obsessed with the issue and become depressed. They become a bit paranoid. On the other hand, there are people that will take that news and turn it into something positive. They will decide that they are going to try new things and be nicer and live happier. Giving that I don’t know what type of reaction I would have to getting this sort of detailed new I would prefer not knowing; therefore, not living in fear of when the sickness will actually become visible. Lastly, I would not like to loose a job opportunity just because in the future I were to get some sort of cancer. In conclusion, I would not volunteer for this project.
Carmen A
Carmen, you posted this in the wrong place... Please repost. Mr. A
DeleteI believe Argentina should not have research programs for this, primarily because of its economy. The ammount of money needed to support this kinds of programs could be a serious number to a developing country's funds. However, economy wise, if a private company is decided to invest on the research and decided to pay taxes to the government, then it could happen.
ReplyDeleteI say it could happen because since the country is run by a democratic government, there are a set of laws that should be revised in order to allow this programs to develop, being national or being privatized, there is a constitution that everyone in the country must follow. Apart from that, it must also be approved by the health ministry of the country. With that being said, it is them who have the decision on wether allow it to happen or not. This is a very complicated decision because of the promising opportunities a program like this proposes. It could provide for many medical answers in the research for new diseases, therefore it would not only benefit one research program, but many others as well. Also including the country's image to the world. On the other hand, however, besides it being an expensive program to maintain, there is a much greater probability of failure than there is of actual success in the breeding of chimeras. Disatrous results could come up from these, including deformed species, or even more radical, the creation of a new disease.
I believe that if these experiments were to be done with success, a greater problem would arise. This problem would be the consideration of this chimeras as humans. Or in other words, how much of a human does the chimera need to be considered as one? Well, I believe that since they are not fully human, they do not correspond to be treated as one. However, depending on the intelligence of the organism, then this should be evaluated by the people of the world in general. But until this happens, if it happens, the world cannot be 100% sure on how these new breeds should be treated. Who knows maybe if they are treated as humans, civilization as we know it may actually prosper. Or maybe not, instead it may just fail greatly.
Santiago Z.
Chimeras are formed from either three or four parent cells, when women have twins the two eggs are fertilized by two sperm cells but imagine that the eggs fuse, the baby would have cells of two different zygotes, the baby would have two sets of DNA, making it a chimera. The word “chimera” comes from a creature in Greek mythology, this creature has the body parts of a goat, a lion and a serpent. Which is a description of the same basic idea that chimeras represent today.
ReplyDeleteI do believe that the further investigation of chimera is something important and fascinating but I don’t think that at this time, the country I’m from, Argentina should cooperate in its development and creation of research programs. First of all, due to Argentinas economy, this research would not be affordable because when a scientist discovers one thing, he discovers more along the way which could cause them to get more money from the government and Argentinas economy would be worse that it was when they began causing this experiment to be a waste. Even though I encourage scientific developments, this discovery has been see to further concerns of morality and human rights.
Camila M
Although the research on chimeras could be a huge success in science there would be a lot of controversy and dilemma surrounding this topic. I don’t think research programs and scientists should have governmental support through tax dollars and facilities to pursue research on chimeras for use in organ transplants, neurological interventions or other possible applications to medicine. This experimentation and research could lead to huge controversy. For example, there would be moral dilemma and confusion surrounding this topic, as scientists would need stem cells and if there would be a boundary between humans and animals. Furthermore, governments are already face with many human rights issues such as the abortion policy.
ReplyDeleteI don’t believe my home country should have research projects on chimeras. Furthermore, if the research on chimeras is continued only people who are in favor of the research should pay tax money to fund it. Otherwise, people who do not support the research may consider this to be animal abuse and would have to fund in a project that they don’t believe would help. There would many consequences to pursuing the research on chimeras, and should be kept away from until other problems are dealt with first.
Irem G.
Who are we to play God? In my opinion, the Spanish government should not use tax support to pursue research on chimeras for medical purposes because of its moral and legal hindrances, and the state of Spain right now.
ReplyDeleteOn a moral standpoint, the development of a creature, which is partly human to benefit other humans, is not correct. Who are we to judge the limit on humanity? These practices would alter nature’s course and we are clueless on what the consequences for that could be. Tied to the moral question, chimera research would lead to countless legal problems. If the world is still dealing with human rights, imagine how long it would take to resolve the pressing question of chimerical rights. Governments all around the world would have to deal with the percentage of human genetic material present to be considered humans and then what policies would be applied to chimeras. Will they be protected under the constitution or simply treated as lab rats?
Spain right now is under a more conservative government and therefore would probably not support this type of cell research. We have just passed a new law on abortion, which is still a heated debate here since the Spanish population is split between religious and more conservative individuals and a rising liberal youth.
I am a strong supporter of the use of technology and biology for medical advancements yet edging the line between animal and human is both controversial and in my opinion, wrong.
Jaime M.
The first chimeras were created to help understand questions about biological developments. Today researchers are developing human-animal chimeras for various reasons, like studying diseases, test new drugs, and to develop organs for the future. Chimeras are produced by introducing human stem cells into animal embryos that are developing. Chimeras used for medical research have both ups and downs in the ethical field.
ReplyDeleteIn the United States, scientists have been utilizing projects with human-animal chimeras.At the University of Nevada researchers added human stem cells to sheep fetuses in order to create chimeras that hopefully will be used someday in the future as a reliable source for organ transplants. Some sheep have 80% human cells in their livers that produce compounds normally produced in the human liver. At St.Kitts Biomedical Foundation in the Caribbean, scientists have transplanted immature human brain cells in the brain of vervet monkeys. The goal is to try and develop a treatment for Parkinson’s disease. The immature brain cells are injected into the dopamine-inducing area of the monkey’s brain to see if the cells can grow and increase dopamine production.
Ethical issues surrounding chimeras ask a question of who or what chimeras are. These issues are a primary concern for scientists. However, I think a side from that it, it is worth the risk to dedicate time and money to the chimera research. There have already been many successes with chimeras both in the US and other countries. With government support, scientists can take it one step farther to help solve the medical mysteries of the world and lives that need saving.
Stacy J
Before beginning to answer this question I believe it is important to understand the current ideas and technology Spain has in this field. Spain has just changed their laws on abortion. If a woman is raped, before twelve weeks have passed she is allowed to abort, if she is not raped it is before 22 weeks have passed she is allowed to abort under the following conditions:
ReplyDeleteThe mother will have dangerous psychological and physical problems.
The baby will have serious conditions when he is born. For example, if he dies at birth. Other conditions such as down syndrome are not allowed to abort for, unless the mother will suffer psychological or physical problems.
Spain has a stem cell research center called FIMEMU in Asturias. There are also people who can get a special card for giving parts of their body. For example if they are killed in a car crash they will give their heart or lungs to a patient in need of them as they are already dead.
Now that we have explored Spain’s technology and beliefs in this field we can answer the question. Chimera research could be done to a certain extent. Humanizing animals seems like something the Spanish government would not spend tax money on. The laws for abortion are pretty strict so it is clear that using stem cells is a delicate issue. Some people believe there is a human soul in each stem cell. However, developing human organs inside animals does not seem that unreal. For example, say you grew human lungs in pigs. The pigs will be killed anyways so what would the problem be? We could then use those lungs on a patient with lung cancer for example. Spain does allow organ transplant so this could be done. By experimenting with things like this scientists could advance and create better methods of doing it. Maybe, we would not even need animals to host a human body part. However, it is important that if the research is done, the money would have to go to the right people. There could be serious consequences used chimera irresponsibly. Someone could create a super human being or even stranger things. All in all, I think the Spanish government could use a small portion of tax money to research this topic. Assuming it is done responsibly and without violating any of the current ethical ideas about abortion and human beings. The medical advances could be amazing!
Daniel M.
Though there is certainly much more to be learned about mixing cells to create human-primate chimeras, I do not believe these experiments should be continued. The fact that two animals mating might cause the birth of human baby is not something I enjoy visualizing. Furthermore, these children would not have human parents that could speak and provide the appropriate things needed to raise a child. Scientists would just be creating more and more “orphaned” children, for, at the end, these children would have to be given to human adoptive parents. Lastly, these children could suffer from trauma later on in life when they discover that they are the children of human-brained goats.
ReplyDeleteMaking people pay taxes to the government to further research on these human-primate chimeras is not just. Especially with the state of the world now, with the Crisis going on, people do not need to pay extra for something they might even be against. There are already many people against “humanizing animals”, and extending research would not be a good thing to do.
MatildeT C.
“Should your home country research programs / scientists have governmental support through tax dollars and facilities to pursue research on chimeras for use in organ transplants, neurological interventions or other possible applications to medicine?
ReplyDeleteAs much success the research on chimaeras would bring to the study of science, it would cause a lot of controversy and dilemma. Research programs, in my opinion should not receive governmental support through tax dollars and facilities to carry out research on chimeras for use in organ transplants, neurological interventions and other uses in medicine. This experimentation and research would lead to major controversy among people. For instance the moral dilemma and confusion adjacent to this topic, as scientists need stem cells and the boundary between humans and animals. Also, governments are already encountered normal every day human right issues such as the abortion policy.
I don’t believe my home country should have research projects on chimeras. If the country does decide to research it, it would only be fair to have the supporters of chimera research should pay tax money to fund it. Others might be against it and consider it animal abuse and have to fund in a project that they don’t believe would help. There would consequences to following the research on chimeras.
Sarah M
Although chimeras are the proof of great improvement of technology, the government should not support this experiment by using citizens' taxes. This is because it is just a waste of money and it causes human rights as well. It is almost impossible to accept children with chimeras in our society and scientists are probably not have responsible to take care of these kids. Also, children's entire life influenced by the fact that giving the birth from human and sheep.
ReplyDeleteI believe my home country government is not supporting the experiment of chimeras. The mostly because the economic problem. My home country, Japan, has no money to provide a support because they have an enormous problems from the earthquake and tsunami.
Konomi U
Now a days, more and more people are getting interested on chimera research programs, and have started to support them for future use in organ transplants, neurological interventions and for other medical applications. However, I believe that chimera research programs present great controversies in ethical issues and the uncertainty of the consequences of these researches would lead to great commotion.
ReplyDeleteThere are several moral issues that concern these chimera research programs. I believe that creating chimeras, by injecting human embryonic stem cells into animal bodies, is unethical, because it would be treating animals as a research matter, which purpose is to satisfy humans. Also, there are lots of concerns inside the moral issues about the use of human embryos itself that are being debated. In addition, before creating these chimeras, we should first consider the consequences of it. Would these chimeras be accepted as they should, or just as lab animals that are used for research purposes?
Nobody knows what would happen with the chimeras in the future, and neither if these would be successful for sure. Until now, there have been many developments in these research programs, yet, we are still far away from the perfection. Chimera researches are a really broad topic, in which could lead to humanized chimeras with physical features and behaviors that are distinct from humans, or even to worse consequences. That is why I believe that these research programs should not be financed with the country’s taxes. The consequences of chimera researches are really unknown, which makes it a risk of making an enormous investment with no clear result.
Yeri C.
Our science technology has came to a level that scientist are able to create chimeras; animals that has two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells. Some might argue that this research program is worth tax dollars because it is used for medical purposes; however, that is not true. I believe that this research program does not deserve support through tax dollars or governmental facilities since problems like legal trouble and animal abuse are likely to happen.
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, once research programs on Chimeras start to progress with the support, heavy disputes over ‘human or non-human’ issues will burst globally. There are already many controversies thrown that still remain unsolved, such as abortion, euthanasia, and homosexual marriage problems. Another theme put to debate is adding another string in to a knot with bunch of strings that has not been undone. For example, a protest over abortion argument broke out once and some people died during it. Therefore to prevent from such things like that, this research program should be nipped from the bud. Secondly, despite the fact they are created for human benefits, it still counts as animal abuse. In other words, I believe that even though they are created to be experimented, injecting human embryonic stem cells into animal bodies is clearly violation. In addition, I think experimenting on something living is unethical in general.
Given these points, I find it wrong that research programs over Chimera should be supported through tax dollars or governmental support. It is certain for me that many people would not want to pay for something immoral, and expected to cause trouble.
Daseul K.
In my opinion, researching on chimeras for use in organ transplants, neurological interventions or other possible applications to medicine should not be supported by the government, though this may be a very sensitive and cautious question. Although researching on chimeras could lead to positive effects such as organ transplants that can help many disabled, there are side effects that may occur. Many people are arguing whether or not humans have the right to control or even change the physical conditions that we were born with. Also, in my home country, abortion is illegal; and abortion partly connects to this problem. One of the main reasons that abortion is rejected is because people believe that it is not fair and just to kill a human being before he/she even had the chance to have his/her own life. Therefore, researching on chimeras that can possibly lead to human cloning and other medical applications should be rejected too. Also, in order to research in these areas, scientists would need to have to proceed with animal testing, which is also creating many controversies in our society. Thus, this may lead to many ethical and even political issues that may cause more problems and debates to this society, which has enough conflicts.
ReplyDeleteMin C.
Research on chimeras is a very important project since it would solve many questions involved in this subject. Although there is a lot of controversy, I believe that governments should not support research programs on chimeras through tax dollars and facilities for use in organ transplants, neurological interventions or other possible applications to medicine. I think this because first of all, stem cell research would be necessary since stem cells are needed. Stem cell research would be very useful in our scientific development but there are moral and ethical problems regarding the use of stem cells. Furthermore, with chimeras, we would be able to carry out more organ transplants, but I don't think this is just since the chimeras would not have a choice.
ReplyDeleteI don't think that Spain should have research projects on chimeras with governmental support because it is not fair for people who do not support and agree with this to have to pay taxes for its funding. If people were to have to pay taxes, there would be many protests against it. Even though growing organs in the chimeras would save many lives by being able to transplant them, it would cause many problems since we would have to decide whether chimeras are considered human or not. Involving the government into this would not be good and having people pay taxes for this research would be even worse since some people would not agree with it.
Karen D.
In my opinion, Spain should not conduct research on chimeras with tax money--or any money at all. It is after reading things like this that you step back and wonder just how "intelligent" and "sane" we humans are at all. This seems too much like playing God. As already mentioned above by--I believe--Julian, the governments and the people already have enough trouble agreeing on human rights. How are we supposed to bring in a new "subspecies" if we cannot even bring ourselves to respect our own species? Sexism, racism, and discrimination are very much alive and bringing a man-made species into the world would not seem fair to the creature.
ReplyDeleteThere is, of course, the trouble of classifying the chimeras. Humans or animals? That is where this case is absolutely lost. We are not entitled to making a choice of what categorizes a chimera as a human or an animal. There is a limit to the power humans can have over the environment and the natural flow of things.
Spain's government is, also, in no position to deal with something like this. The recently-passed abortion law has already created great controversy. Humans are not ready to take on the challenge of a new "human race"-- they can barely give women a right over their bodies or judge someone by the contents within, and not outside. I am completely against this project and I think it would be more detrimental than helpful, in my country and anywhere else.
RocÃo C.
I do not think chimeras between humans and animals are a good idea. Creating a chimera could be hurting the living organism by giving different traits from both humans and the animal. The controversy that would be caused on what kind of creature the chimera is considered would be massive. Creating chimeras between humans and other animals could also be hurting the organism by giving them two different features of things that are not similar, possibly having fatal consequences. Considering these are lab animals, they should not be exposed to nature since the consequences of this creature being exposed are unknown.
ReplyDeleteOther medically related issues such as stem cell research, human cloning, etc. should be kept in labs. Organ transplants from one organism to another compatible organism is safe as it is helping other organisms survive. The abortion policy is very controversial and differs from country to country. However, at times it is for the better of both the offspring and parent.
Governments should not be publicly introducing projects that do not have enough research to show that they are safe to expose. However, this research should not be done with governmental support through taxes unless there is proof to demonstrate that it is helping save lives of others. Spain is not in the condition to be taking tax money to offer this kind of research, so this project should not be something in mind at the moment.
Lydia B.
While researching chimeras might have an enormous potential in the field of medicine and scientific discovery, it would also cause numerous health and ethical problems in the world. Chimeras would become the bridge to overcome the species barrier, therefore allowing animal diseases to pass onto humans easily. In addition, chimera research will lead to an uncountable number of ethical discussions. Not only would we be going “against its (animal’s) natural evolutionary will,” according to Dr. Bernard Dixon, a Health Watch Award recipient, but also we would be violating the laws of nature. Animals were made the way they were for a reason, so who are we to change that? Furthermore, I cannot imagine the amount of violent debates and problems there would be about these human-nonhuman chimeras being treated as either animals or humans. For many years, there has been a distinct moral separation between humans and animals for obvious reasons, and these chimeras would destroy this distinction. Currently, the world is still suffering from racism and human rights, so it is imaginable how differently this species would fit in into our society. Lastly, I personally find it wrong for a human baby to come out of a goat or any other animal. Imagine the psychological problems that baby would have growing up knowing that his/her parents were animals.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, I do understand that growing human organs on animals could advance modern medicine and even save many human lives, but at the same time I believe this is not the way to do it. Changing the course of nature itself, hurting animals and even humans, and changing society are not worth suffering for this research. Still, I have to admit it would be very interesting to see how an animal with a human brain would turn out, but at the same time it’s wrong.
Claudia M
Even though mixing different sex-cells to create living things is fascinating, and may aid varied type of medical reserch; (organ transplantation and I deduct that these certain techniques should be banned by the law as it is animal abuse and violation. I wouldnt allow such practices in my Spain, as it would suck a vast amount of tax, which is needed to improve education and public health. Even though I support medical research and development, these practices are just going to far. For example, human hearts could be grown in horses, or fake livers could be grown in sheep. Spanish Government would not support or propagate these techniques as the Government is quite on the conservative edge. Even though, these ways may aid people in the future, I do not predict these measures are appropiate for the times we are living in Spain. As abortion law has just been passed and there are still amny divided opinions on such measures. Maybe in a near future we could expand on such practices, as it would aid people around our country. To conclude I want to state that I these methods should be banned because they are animal abuse and it violates established laws passed by the spanish congress, but I state that we may need it in a near future if a chemical war brakes out or a natural disaster we could not forsee. But I hope these events should not happen.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Chimera genetic research is not going to help at this decent time, because our environment is too polluted by us the humans. The Chimera genetics are basically mixing one animal to another like a greek mythology. However, this will become a human work which is made by humans, not naturally. Creatures are grown by their specific type of region and their habitat. However, Chimera is just simply destroying the habitat of that animal; this is very important because we do not now how long will they live or what kind of vitamins will be included on that specific body. On the dark side, new virus could spread world wide, therefore it could be destroying the environment of the earth.
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand, any countries will research about Chimera for the science development. However, as my own perspective it is not that important to mix the animal for the food or other things. The countries still work because we have enough resources, or if not, we get the foods from other countries. In addition, this will effect many farmers whom are producing the resource of their own resources.
Byung H
A chimera is an animal that contains two or three different cell populations that originate in distinct zygotes which are formed from three or four parent cells. Since the animal has different cell populations, each cell population remains having their own characteristics which makes the animal have a mixture of tissues. For example, a chimera animal like a sheep-goat chimera that obtains dual characteristics. Those characteristics being obtained by inheritance or through infusion of allogeneic hematopoietic cells during transfusion.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion, Spain should support its medical research on chimeras through tax dollars if it means to better the world. Even though the research on chimeras goes against many human morals, it is only a step closer and further into finding more ways to help us humans with organ transplants. Even if it means that sacrifices will have to be made, I think that it’s worth it to try. Some people may argue that not everyone should have to pay taxes to such researches because it does not apply to all, but in the long run, it benefits everyone. As long as our money is being used for a helpful cause then I find it okay. Chimera researches could help many people in need of organ transplants like livers or maybe even human brains according to Chimeras at the Center for Bioethics at the University of Minnesota.
Vera S.
The Future of Chimera Research and Use
ReplyDeleteThe possibilities regarding chimeras are remarkable. The discoveries made so far have opened doors that show medical uses that could change the word as we know it. Sadly, these same possibilities could lead to major human rights issues and could cause an unnecessary debate, or even, war. In my opinion, the US should pursue Chimera research, funded by tax dollars, but the medical use of Chimeras should be restricted.
Imagine a world where there are human-bread species that are a mix between monkeys and humans. There would not only be major moral issues but an endless amount of law suits and disputes amongst both US people but countries as well. With countries sharing different views, the disputes could go as far as war. All and all I feel that the United States, as a very powerful and influential country, should keep strict restrictions with the use of Chimeras, and their medical use. As far as tax money goes, I personally would not mind funding the discovery of such creatures. I think it is a vital step in the scientific revolution we are in today and it is important that to help us understand more about the power of genes.
Cooper D.
The world as we know it today is really different if you compare it from 30 years ago. New inventions, new things, new medicines, everything is changing and this changes are making our world unique Chimeras are single organisms that is composed of two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells that originated from different zygotes involved in sexual reproduction.
ReplyDeleteI don’t really think that chimeras should be researched in Venezuela mainly because of the internal problems in my country. The political, economic, social and security problems Venezuela is facing right now are really important and I don’t think that we should invest money in a new research when we are dealing with several problems. The government “helps” the poor, while they should be stopping the crimes on the streets, the economy is going down because of the insecurity, companies are going bankrupt because of the government. Politicians steal all the money they can. All this problems are more important than chimeras in my opinion. Plus if taxes are involved in this research, I doubt this is gonna be successful in my country. I think chimeras are amazing and they could be really important in the future, but right now, Venezuela has more important things to deal with.
Arturo Silva
In my opinion i think Spain should not research for chimeras using public taxes because of the current economic situation in our country, which is very bad (almost 30% population is unemployed. Even they research about the chimeras, the first use is always going to be militar, so I am imagine situation like human mutated with abnormal qualities and characteristics in order to kill people rather than using for healing and public uses. For military uses would be like the gene of a pantera or a lion mixed with a human gene in order to create human as fast as a pantera.
ReplyDeleteHowever, if I have to think a way for a chimera to be a public use, I will say for example of mixing two different medical plants would probably create a type of protein that can eliminate carcinogenic cell from a person. In conclusion, I think Spain should invest money in other stuff such as technology rather than chimera research.
Hao C
I believe one thing is doing research in Spain and another one to involve taxes. I believe that experimenting with Chimera might lead us to discover new things i also do not believe that injecting cells into animals is good.
ReplyDeleteNot only this but there would be huge disagreement between people that could cause serious arguments.
It is not only this but I believe that we have developed a lot over time and we have discovered new things, but in the society we are living in today i dont think this would be accepted.
I do not believe that the human part of the animal would cause good responses from the spanish citizens.
It is not naturally done and there would be confusions about the right of it.
I believe Spain would not agree with this.
Cristina C.
Chimeras are animals that have two or more different genetical cells and they are most often engineered in laboratories for research. There is controversy as to whether these hybrids should be constructed with more human than animal neurons, meaning that the chimera would have a brain that is 100% human. There are other topics concerning the human rights and procedures in which these hybrids are created in. If human stem cells are injected into an animal embryo while the animal is still a fetus in early development stages, and the cells spread throughout all the organs, then the result could be a humanized animal or vise versa depending on what way this process is done.
ReplyDeleteThere are many wide controversy topics in many countries, like abortion, cloning and things along those lines. I think that chimeras are a topic that should be more widely looked on because of the negative effects that they can have, and i do not think that Spain would allow this to happen. It is not completely humane to be breeding half human half animal creatures inside laboratories. I don’t think that this can provide research that is desperately needed and that if there are other methods to study the development of cells, that those should be done. Applying different cells during transplantation in order to create mutants with strange DNA and functioning parts should not be allowed either in labs or fro personal research.
Apart from that, there are questions as to whether or not these chimeras can mate and produce offsprings. It is said that if a chimera with a human egg cell and a chimera with a human sperm cell mate, that it may be possible for the offspring to be human. This would be unfair to the child in any circumstance, because if it were to be kept in a lab for research it would be treated as a lab pet and it would not have a normal life. Overall, mixing and interchanging DNA from different species should not be allowed for laboratory research because it is not fair since they are living organisms as well.
Tina Z
A chimera is an animal that has two or more different populations of genetically distinct cells that originated in different zygotesl. If that isen't scary enough, let try it when I say that scientist are mixing chimeras with human cells. To try and create this hybrids, in my personal opinion, I believe and I truly mean it in my own opinion, and in no way do i try to mock or insult anything in this world. But we are trying to play 'God' and create things on our own accord that should not be touched with. Creating human/primate or any other animal hybrids is inhuman of us and a waste of valuable resource that we could use to try and save our own failing race and animal species.
ReplyDeleteI don't think Spain would ever consider allowing this type of research to be done. Not only is it a waste of our tax money, that we could use to create so many other wonderful thing for our society, or even cure the incurable diseases it is also inhuman of us to experiment and play 'God' in our own accord. We shouldn't be allowed to touch another species if only to save it. Mixing it with another and possibly create something so unnatural, that Hybrid might suffer and not only that, mixing with two types of genetic DNA and make up could create the most unthinkable diseases. We do not get to do this, we do not get to play 'God' and create what should not be touched. We should not unbalance our nature in life, because if we do, we could plunge our world into chaos if one day, we can not control the chimeras we created.
Cassia E.
I think that governments, especially the government of the United States should have support to research chimeras. Once the research and development gets even more advanced then we may have the possibilities of beings that can donate organs for people in need. This would also have a huge benefit for medicine because they could test out how different newer medicines work on a living organism.
ReplyDeleteThey should receive support through tax dollars because this could be a very worthwhile subject, to start doing more research on. It could lead us to new areas in organ transplants and medicine that we have never been. However, the people researching it should be careful that this does not get out of hand, things can escalate to unseen levels especially with subjects that have not been studied much.
Reece H.
In my opinion, chimera’s research shouldn’t receive tax money because if the chimera saves our life by taking away a part of their body or organs those chimera would be harmed or even killed. Without taking away that during or after the transplant operation, the patient might die. Spain right now is in a deep economic crisis where there is not enough money for these research programs and I think that it should be invested in other things. Spain has a conservative government and that means conservative governments don’t invest tax money in those types scientific programs. In addition, the abortion law that has just passed has many divided opinions and right now a new law will be coming out.
ReplyDeleteFinally, killing chimera for human benefit in organ transplants is horrible. In these interventions, the chimera will die and there is a big risk that the human will die. There would also be a debate if the chimera’s would have the right to live under human laws.
Alex P.
I am a firm believer in scientific innovation especially for medical purposes. I believe it is incredible that humans have developed the mind to be able to fuse two embryos to make a sort of human hybrid. It makes one wonder what more we can accomplish. However, like most things there is a line and we can find ourselves crossing that thin line between science and morality. Firstly, it is unnatural and we are unaware what the long-term effects of crossing humans and animals will do. It could alter our ecosystem or hold unknown consequences, which we have no way of imaging. Secondly, one must also take into consideration what rights the animal/human merge should have. I do not believe in animal testing and to add to this even if animals are essentially not being harmed you are taking their very nature, instincts and characteristics away from them. Giving a goat a human brain for example is taking away what makes a goat a goat from a goat. This is truly an example of it is what is on the inside that counts. Also, should an animal be subjected to exist purely to give parts of their body such as a brain to humans? I believe not.
ReplyDeleteTherefore, I believe that the Netherlands should not support this research trough tax dollars. Although, the Netherlands is tolerant country which is not as conservative as others, I believe chimeras are too far for even the Netherlands.
ANNA VDL
In my personal opinion I think supporting the scientific research on chimeras should be considered the right thing to do in this topic. Every day something different is discovered, scientist have discovered amazing things by using different methods and trying different theories. So why should we stop them from probably discovering something that would help humanity in many ways such as having more possibilities of organ donors or for other applications to medicine. Considering that some people would think of this as human abuse since technically the animals have enough human characteristics to be considered human, if this was to be supported the animals tested with it should have a special care. But even if they are treated with a special care they shouldn’t have all the privledges we humans have, such as breeding. Working with chimeras is something innovating and there is no intention of animal abuse, or humanity abuse in this case, but its intention is to improve our way of living.
ReplyDeleteIlona P.
A chimera is an animal that has two (or more) populations of genetically distinct cells that originated in different zygotes. They are formed from either three or four parent cells. The resulting animal is a mixture of tissues. Chimera research is clouded by controversy, possibly because it involves the merger of animal cells belonging to different species. There are some possible benefits, mainly involving the creation of human organs in animals to be harvested to save human lives. Some questions and controversy have surged from this case - should the government fund this research? Is it ethically wrong?
ReplyDeleteThe Spanish government shouldn't even consider using taxpayer money to endorse said advances. Said money would be better used in something that is beneficial to all of society. It is also to be noted that this issue is something that the majority of the conservative and religious Spanish people would undoubtedly be against.
Despite the possible benefits that this type of research may yield, I am strongly against such scientific advances, primarily because they are an abuse not just to animal, but also human rights. Added to this, the creation of a human sub-species for the sole purpose of forced labor and/or organ harvesting is not only decisively against universal ethics - it's also inhuman. How is it correct to create an artificial species only to cause its members to be exploited and discriminated?
--Ricardo P.
I don't think that Portugal should donate any money to researching chimeras. Portugal already has a slightly controversial turn on donating organs, where any Portuguese citizen, foreign or native, is an eligible organ donor. In many other countries, such as the UK, an organ donor must express the want to be an organ donor by carrying a card. In addition to this, they strictly regulate stem cell research and there are criminal punishments if a scientist does improper research with embryos.The legalization of abortion only happened seven years ago. The country doesn't seem ready to handle a controversial topic such as this one.
ReplyDeleteApart from this, I don't think that Portugal can afford to research into chimeras because the pros do not heavily outweigh the cons. How would the government classify a human hybrid? Would they have the right to the same things as a human? Would a female human hybrid be allowed to abort a child? Would hybrids even be allowed to mate? The outcome is undefined and unclear. Additionally, I personally believe that it's inappropriate for mankind to create a subspecies just because they're "curious" or need more organs. Curiosity must be held back when it can seriously alter nature and create a whole other species for our benefit alone.
The Portuguese people could become very split in their opinions on this topic, and as a country in the depths of an economic recession, adding very controversial social issues would not help. It's more important that the country focuses on expanding their GDP, which was at 0.20% this past quarter, instead of funding a project that is so risky and with such an unclear outcome.
Sara P
The chimera project is an interesting step forward in the field of science. Research on animal chimeras is a helpful way to further our knowledge of genetics, however there is a problem with animal chimeras that have been given a functioning 100% human brain. When do these experiments cross the line and when do the chimeras gain the same rights that humans have? While science that furthers our knowledge of medicine is crucial and organ harvesting is an efficient way to better or save lives, we may also be giving these semi-human organisms an incredibly difficult and short life. The experiments could fall into the territory of human experimentation, an illegal practice. This is an incredibly ambiguous topic and one that should be sorted out before our taxes fund this research. It is not a critical issue; therefore we should wait until we decide what is right and what is wrong before we pay our taxes to support the project. While this project is intended to support our way of life, it is simply too risky and too morally ambiguous to support.
ReplyDeleteI think the United States should continue spending taxes on the more critical problems at hand, rather than this scientific project. After we decide what to do with the human chimeras we could fund the project in order to harvest organs for the many that are in need of a donation.
Max SK
The U.S. government should definitely support, to a limited extent, research on chimeras. The medical possibilities this would open up are astounding. The ethical side of the story and those who disagree with the research have a point, it might create something weird or bad, and certainly unnatural. However, if there is a possibility for, as an example, a half-cow with human lungs (or any other organ), this could be literally a life-saver for someone. The cow will be killed either way, for the beef. What will be done with the lungs? They won't get used for anything, so why not give the lung to someone who needs it. The same goes for any organ. The cow/pig/whatever else is going to die either way, so the organs should be used to save a human that actually needs it. For a medical purpose, getting a successful method of producing chimeras would be a great advancement.
ReplyDeleteThe drawbacks to research on chimeras are that, no matter how well test subjects are treated, they are still unnatural. This also goes against many peoples' religious beliefs.
To me, the reasons not to conduct research are weak, though for those who the research would violate their beliefs, it may be completely unthinkable. However, the benefits, mainly medically, would be enormous. They far outweigh the consequences. This should definitely be a project supported by the U.S. government.
Mylo D.
Personally, I believe that the research of chimera in Spain would not succeed. This is because of the terrible economic recession Spain is embroiled in. During these times, taxes should be directed to essential things, programs that could result in greater amounts of money in Spain. Spanish people, sadly, would be more interested in investing in new football stadiums for our football teams than to encourage a science investigation. Also, publicly this would create a lot of struggle, mainly because people would not like to know that they are supporting a program in which animals are being caged and suffering.
ReplyDeleteIn order to carry on the chimera between primates and humans, we would need to test with different monkeys. Spain is not known for having a vast variety of animals; therefore in certain types of monkeys, chimera testing could lead to the extinction of a species because they might be endangered already and taking a lot of them might result fatal. Personally I would not support this research because I believe that it is not a very hard experiment and it could be done elsewhere perfectly. People in Spain would complain for not investing in necessary things.
Carlos N.
In my opinion, this project is a really interesting one and it shows what we're able to accomplish. It is amazing how far scientists have gone. It sounds like the results of this project would help understand many scientific facts. Also, it looks like they are planning everything ahead. They won't let the chimeras mate and if they see any wrong results they will stop the problem, so that is not anything to worry about.
ReplyDeleteThe problem with this project, is that it collects the money to do it from taxes. That means that the money the people give goes to that project instead of going for more important needs. The taxes should be used to fix other problems. The people could maybe donate if they are interesed and, if enough money is collected, do the project, but I feel like it is more important to invest money in other needs. People have different beliefs and some people think that this project is not right and that they should not have to pay for it. If the people feel like their money is been wasted they will get angry and that can cause problems.
I believe that this project should not be done in Mexico as the money is needed for many other issues. Mexico, right now, is facing many other complications and the money should not be invested in a scientific problem but in making Mexico a better place.
Luisa Fernanda O.
A chimera is formed from three to four parent cells, producing an animal with more than one genetically distinct cell population. Scientists have wondered about the possibility of creating human-animal hybrids in this way. However, whether or not they could be useful to society has been a topic for much debate. In theory, scientists could create animals with human brains, or the other way around. This would have to be done at an early stage of the organism's development. One of the controversies surrounding this practice is that it would take away the chance to live a normal life as one definitive being. Some scientists have also argued that chimeras could be useful in the field of medicine, but there has not yet been concrete evidence to support this claim.
ReplyDeleteI believe that there should be scientific research done on chimeras, but it should not be funded by taxes until scientists can find specific ways in which they would benefit society. The money of the taxpayers should go towards programs that will definitely improve the lives of the people. Chimeras are certainly interesting, and should continue to be investigated for the purpose of scientific knowledge and innovation. However, because of the controversy, legal complications about their treatment, and our lack of understanding about their usage, my country's government should not yet become involved in these programs.
Julia B.
The United States is an active participant in stem cell research. Public and private research have been endorsed by the federal government; however, the Clinton and Bush Administration condemn any sort of stem cell research that may result in the destruction of human embryos. This being said, there truly is not a need for further chimera research in the United States. Also, considering the moral controversy that has surrounded stem cell research, it can be foreseen that chimera research would go through the same scrutiny and opposition, perhaps more so. Chimeras, being part human and part animal, would present a moral and social dilemma for people because they would not know how to treat them.
ReplyDeleteThis dilemma aside, the medical benefits of chimera research seem minimal considering the rapid advances in stem cell research. Stem cell research in the United States has ceased to destroy human embryos, and has even began to explore alternative methods that involve adult stem cells and amniotic stem cells, which have been found to differentiate. In conclusion, chimera research would create more problems socially and morally than they would solve and its medical benefit seems limited considering chimeras are not fully human. Also, within the United States it could be said that its minorities are still without equal treatment and this would be true for chimeras--a new minority (if created). Stem cell research is full of potential and has already shown its value by curing even some cases of cancer. More funding should go into this field than chimera creation.
Gabriel P.
Personally, I believe that research on chimera sould be supported up to a certain extent. Chimera research could help us understand more about animals but most importantly, it could help us understand genetics on a deeper level. At the same time, research on chimera shouldn't go too far because it could be dangerous, and should definitely not be tested on human beings. Instead, I also think that they should test human cells on other animals to be able to study more human-like hybrids.
ReplyDeleteAlthough i think chimera research should be supported, i don't think it should be supported by tax just yet. Italy and the rest of Europe are still in an economic crisis. It wouldn't seem appropriate at this time to increase the tax simply to do research on chimera. During an economic crisis there are greater problems that need dealing with. I also believe that even though this might not be the appropriate time to support chimera research with tax, when my country is more economically stable, i think it would be a good idea.
Thomas M.
Chimera reaserch does help us undertsand genetics in a more extensive level of deeper understaning. I dont think that the testings should go as far as to human testing. It is a fairly dangerouse thing that they are doing and i do beleive that some things are better left unknown and life should never be tamperd with. I think that the only way to help humans is to be able to study and test our cells and our dead bodeys or maybe people on life support? i think that we are not the same as other animal species and what helps them may not help us. I dont think that taxes should increase for this reaserch. Independant donations is a better way to go. I dont think the world is ready for this scientific advance because all the results from this may not be all positive.\
ReplyDeleteAnna B
“Should your home country research programs / scientists have governmental support through tax dollars and facilities to pursue research on chimeras for use in organ transplants, neurological interventions or other possible applications to medicine?"
ReplyDeleteIn my personal opinion, I think that research on chimera should be supported but it should be supported up to a certain point. Research on chimera could help certain scientists understand and do more research about animals and human genetics as well. This type of experiment could benefit scientists in many ways but it can also be dangerous in many other ways. This experiment should not be done on human beings and scientists should be able to test human cells in animals so they can study more human-like hybrids.
Chimera research should be supported but it should not be supported by tax. It should be supported by individuals wanting to make donations to the research but not by everyone who is paying taxes to the state. Since Spain and Europe are going through an economic crisis right now, it would not be right to the raise taxes to be able to support a research like this one. When Spain and Europe get better, economically talking, it would be appropriate to spend taxes in chimera research.
Carlota L.