Thursday, February 02, 2006
Public Officials Linked to Human-Animal Experiments
WASHINGTON, Feb. 2 - In a recent article in National Geographic News it was reported that scientists have begun blurring the line between human and animal by producing chimeras -- a hybrid creature that's part human, part animal. Chinese scientists have successfully fused human cells with rabbit eggs; researchers at the Mayo Clinic created pigs with human blood flowing through their bodies; and at Stanford University, an experiment is being planned to create mice with human brains.
According to information leaked from the National Science Foundation, experiments involving chimeras have been going on for decades producing men and women with animal genes and animals with human organs. "There are some prominent Americans today who have been created, in one way or another, with both human and animal attributes," said a NSF scientist who requested anonymity. "While most of these experiments have gone virtually unnoticed, we have had some problems with humans who received predatory animal genes," he added.
The scientist also admitted that there may be some ethical issues involved. For example, an experiment that would raise concerns, he said, is genetically engineering mice to produce human sperm and eggs, then doing in vitro fertilization to produce a child whose parents are a pair of mice. "Things could really get sticky if the mice decided they wanted to keep the baby and sued for custody," he pointed out.
But far more frightening, according to the scientist, is information from a secret gene bank linking aggressive animal and human cells to some of today's high government officials. While there is no immediate concern about President Bush who appears to have been created with brain cells from mice, genes from wild boars in the bodies of Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld may explain why they are "hell bent on pursuing war," explained the scientist.
White House Spokesman Scott McClellan, in response to reporters' questions about chimeras, said the claim of animal genes in the president and other officials made as much sense as a plan to invade Iran or tapping the phones of innocent Americans. He suggested, jokingly, that if the president had genes from mice he would have found it much easier to navigate the Washington political maze.
"And how would a mouse respond to 9/11, Katrina, and the Abramoff scandal?" McClellan questioned rhetorically. "Anyone who suggests the president has a brain of a small rodent could end up at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base," he warned.
According to information leaked from the National Science Foundation, experiments involving chimeras have been going on for decades producing men and women with animal genes and animals with human organs. "There are some prominent Americans today who have been created, in one way or another, with both human and animal attributes," said a NSF scientist who requested anonymity. "While most of these experiments have gone virtually unnoticed, we have had some problems with humans who received predatory animal genes," he added.
The scientist also admitted that there may be some ethical issues involved. For example, an experiment that would raise concerns, he said, is genetically engineering mice to produce human sperm and eggs, then doing in vitro fertilization to produce a child whose parents are a pair of mice. "Things could really get sticky if the mice decided they wanted to keep the baby and sued for custody," he pointed out.
But far more frightening, according to the scientist, is information from a secret gene bank linking aggressive animal and human cells to some of today's high government officials. While there is no immediate concern about President Bush who appears to have been created with brain cells from mice, genes from wild boars in the bodies of Vice-President Dick Cheney and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld may explain why they are "hell bent on pursuing war," explained the scientist.
White House Spokesman Scott McClellan, in response to reporters' questions about chimeras, said the claim of animal genes in the president and other officials made as much sense as a plan to invade Iran or tapping the phones of innocent Americans. He suggested, jokingly, that if the president had genes from mice he would have found it much easier to navigate the Washington political maze.
"And how would a mouse respond to 9/11, Katrina, and the Abramoff scandal?" McClellan questioned rhetorically. "Anyone who suggests the president has a brain of a small rodent could end up at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base," he warned.
