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I prva himera ce biti...?

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S.:
UK scientists ask permission to create human-cow hybrid


Scientists in the UK applied on Monday for permission to create part-cow, part-human embryos for research aimed at treating diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.

The procedure would involve inserting human DNA into cows’ eggs that have had their own genetic material removed. The embryos created from this process would then be almost entirely “human”, with the only cow DNA being outside the cells’ nuclei.

If they manage to pull off the feat, the human-bovine embryos would not be allowed to develop for more than a few days, the researchers say.

The hybrid embryos would be used to produce embryonic stem cells, which have huge potential for treating disease. At present, embryonic stem cells have to be obtained from unwanted early stage human embryos left over from in-vitro fertilisation treatments. Using cow eggs would potentially give researchers a far greater supply of stem cell material.

But the proposal has been questioned by some ethics campaigners, who claim it could blur the line between animals and humans.

The application for a three-year licence was submitted to the UK's Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority by the North East England Stem Cell Institute – a biotech research body run by the universities of Durham and Newcastle.

Lyle Armstrong at Newcastle University, who is leading the team, says the work is necessary "to take this area of stem cell research to the next stage”.

But Calum MacKellar of the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics told the BBC: "In this kind of procedure, you are mixing at a very intimate level animal eggs and human chromosomes and you may begin to undermine the whole distinction between animals and humans."

A decision on whether to grant permission for the work is expected within the next few months.


Source:  12:30 07 November 2006, NewScientist.com news service

morbius:
A koja je uopšte razlika između čoveka i životinje? Šta uopšte odvaja čoveka od ostalih životinjskih vrsta?
Genetska istraživanja na ljudima će se potpuno izvesno nastaviti. Zašto? Iz potpuno istog razloga iz kog smo napravili atomsku bombu. Because we can.
Čim postoji način da se nešto uradi, neko će to izvesno i uraditi. Ne kažem da je to samo po sebi loša stvar. Genetski eksperimenti na ljudima bi mogli doneti puno toga dobrog, ali su i moguće zloupotreba ogromne.

blasphemer:
Bas bi bilo fino da naprave ManBearPig - half man, half bear, and half pig.  :D

Mixitron M. Storm:
Hm, ljudska nDNA i kravlja mDNA :?

lilit:
koliko sam uspela da shvatim, koristi se kravlja jajna celija iz koje ce DNK biti uklonjena i zamenjena potpuno humanom DNK. to malo kravlje DNK je mitohondrijalnog porekla, a posto su mitohondrije poreklom od bakterija koje su se tu ubacile pre vise miliona godina (i danas sluze uglavnom kao depoi kalcijumovih jona i kao izvori energije), ne vidim neki big problem.
znaci, ovo nije himera u klasicnom smislu te reci kao sto je npr. mula koja nastane ukrstanjem magarca i konja ili humana himera - kada od dvojajcanih blizanaca u ranom stadijumu embrionalnog razvoja nastane jedna osoba  (moze se javiti dodatni problem, hermafroditizam, ako su blizanci razlicitog pola).

drago mi je sto research ide u ovom pravcu, neslucene su razmere dobra do kojeg ovakva istrazivanja mogu dovesti.
moj jedini, ne veliki, problem sa svim ovim je u tome sto je ovo ex-team naseg miodraga stojkovica, a poslednji info koji imam o njemu je da otvara  privatnu kliniku za vestacku oplodnju u leskovcu.
o ovci doli i njenoj sudbini, ne bih ovom prilikom :).

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