How many human cells does a pig need before it’s considered too human?
Articles on Chimeras
Displaying all articles
Pigs with human kidneys? Brain-powered computer chips? Science is creating new kinds of living things – and our moral understanding needs to catch up fast.
Synchrony is ubiquitous throughout the universe. But physicists’ equations predicted there could also be erratic exceptions marching to their own beat. Now they’ve been spotted in firefly swarms.
‘Chimera’ creatures with human organs could be medically useful – but can we really treat them like other animals?
Researchers made human-monkey chimeras, by adding human stem cells to monkey embryos. Some embryos were cultured for 19 days after fertilisation.
A growing international divide over cutting-edge medical research could worsen predatory practices, medical tourism and health inequality.
The idea of human-animal hybrids can raise a lot of questions and it’s easy to feel they are “unnatural” because they violate the boundaries between species.
The concept of creating human-animal hybrids can be eerie, but that’s only because of the way our minds tend to categorise things.
What rights should a chimera with human-like cognitive abilities but without the ability to speak have?
Human-animal hybrids - or ‘chimeras’ - might sound strange, but they offer great hope for new life saving therapies, as long as key ethical boundaries are respected.
Top contributors
-
Lecturer in Bioethics, Monash University; The University of Melbourne
-
Professor - Emerging Technologies (Stem Cells) at The University of Melbourne and Group Leader - Stem Cell Ethics & Policy at the Murdoch Children's Research Institute, The University of Melbourne
-
Professor, Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, The University of Melbourne
-
Professor and Former Program Leader of Stem Cells Australia, The University of Melbourne
-
Associate Professor of Philosophy, University at Albany, State University of New York
-
Chen Su Lan Centennial Professor in Medical Ethics, National University of Singapore; Distinguished Visiting Professor in Law, University of Melbourne; Uehiro Chair in Practical Ethics, The University of Melbourne
-
Senior Research Fellow in Practical Ethics, University of Oxford
-
Assistant Professor, Durham University
-
Research associate, Cornell University
-
Senior Research Fellow, University of Oxford
-
Wellcome Trust Research Fellow in Philosophy, University of Oxford