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Cody Dawg · Apr 29, 2005, 10:03 PM

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RENO, Nevada (AP) -- On a farm about six miles outside this gambling town, Jason Chamberlain looks over a flock of about 50 smelly sheep, many of them possessing partially human livers, hearts, brains and other organs.

I don't think that this is very good for some reason.

On the one hand I think it would be great to grow a heart here or a lung there, but what happens when the animal is now more human than animal?

Scary stuff.

zerostar · Apr 29, 2005, 10:08 PM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

what happens when the animal is now more human than animal?

Care to explain the difference to me?

CharlesS · Apr 29, 2005, 10:11 PM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Link
On the one hand I think it would be great to grow a heart here or a lung there, but what happens when the animal is now more human than animal?

Unless it has a fully-functioning human brain, it won't be "more human than animal."

nredman · Apr 29, 2005, 10:26 PM

can i get a huge horse rock errr sock

(sorry i thought it was funny)

Kilbey · Apr 29, 2005, 11:18 PM

Particularly worrisome to some scientists are the nightmare scenarios that could arise from the mixing of brain cells: What if a human mind somehow got trapped inside a sheep's head?

The "idea that human neuronal cells might participate in 'higher order' brain functions in a nonhuman animal, however unlikely that may be, raises concerns that need to be considered," the Academies report warned.

In January, an informal ethics committee at Stanford University endorsed a proposal to create mice with brains nearly completely made of human brain cells.

ThinkInsane · Apr 29, 2005, 11:54 PM

Not to go on all-Fours; that is the Law. Are we not Men?
Not to eat Flesh or Fish; that is the Law. Are we not Men?
Not to claw Bark of Trees; that is the Law. Are we not Men?
Not to chase other Men; that is the Law. Are we not Men?

Sorry, couldn't resist.

Agasthya · Apr 30, 2005, 12:11 AM

That's pretty cool.

MilkmanDan · Apr 30, 2005, 01:25 AM

I need me a new liver.

Face Ache · Apr 30, 2005, 03:12 AM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

but what happens when the animal is now more human than animal?

They get ADSL.

The forum monkeys have been a huge success.

OptimusG4 · Apr 30, 2005, 06:35 AM

What, that Skittles commercial with the sheep boys wasn't good enough?

goMac · Apr 30, 2005, 10:19 AM

Even though a brain may have human brain cells it won't have the same capacity. In the example of the mouse, size would matter.

If a fully functional human brain did end up in an animal, whats the difference? The animal wouldn't know the difference.

OreoCookie · Apr 30, 2005, 10:52 AM

What's so bad about it? Cheap replacement organs you can `grow' and you don't have to wait till an organ donor dies.

Cody Dawg · Apr 30, 2005, 10:57 AM

Well, now that's true.

The science of it is fascinating. How does the blood compatibility thing work, however? I mean, let's say you're AB negative. How well will that organ transplant?

A lot of people are ethically opposed to this sort of thing, but if my son was dying because there was no donor for a heart I'd definitely say, "Use a harvested home-grown heart."

The truth is that it would make a great Stephen King book or Stephen Spielberg movie.

torsoboy · Apr 30, 2005, 12:13 PM

Originally Posted by Cody Dawg

Well, now that's true.

The science of it is fascinating. How does the blood compatibility thing work, however? I mean, let's say you're AB negative. How well will that organ transplant?

A lot of people are ethically opposed to this sort of thing, but if my son was dying because there was no donor for a heart I'd definitely say, "Use a harvested home-grown heart."

The truth is that it would make a great Stephen King book or Stephen Spielberg movie.

The blood thing seems to be worked out..

In the past two years, scientists have created pigs with human blood, fused rabbit eggs with human DNA and injected human stem cells to make paralyzed mice walk.

I think it is great. There are too many people that dies because there aren't enough donor organs to go around.

wdlove · Apr 30, 2005, 12:26 PM

It would be much better to grow the organs in a lab. There could be many unseen risks.

DeathToWindows · Apr 30, 2005, 05:42 PM

I don't see the issue here... if they're closer to human (i.e. organal level) it becomes much easier to do work on animal models and transport it to humans

awaspaas · Apr 30, 2005, 05:51 PM

Cody Dawg is outraged over some article somewhere? Wow, that's never happened before.

zerostar · Apr 30, 2005, 06:14 PM

Originally Posted by wdlove

It would be much better to grow the organs in a lab.

Actually, organs grown in a living organism is 'much better' then grown in a lab. In a biological sense anyway. Stability and reproduction rates to name a reason.

There could be many unseen risks.

Care to explore some of those?

olePigeon · Apr 30, 2005, 06:27 PM

"Wow, that guy must be hung like a ... oh, he is."

macintologist · Apr 30, 2005, 07:50 PM

That's so freakin' awesome. I love science. The only unethical science is when experiments are done on sentient human beings against their will. That's it. Everything else is ethical.