In a chilling experiment seemingly out of science fiction, scientists created two human-pig embryos — then destroyed them after a few weeks of growth. The creations included human stem cells grown inside pig embryos, with the cells constituting only a small part of the embryos. The scientists’ hope is that such recombinations could be used to grow replacement organs for humans that wouldn’t be rejected by the recipient’s body. “The larger the evolutionary distance, the more difficult for them to mix.”Animals with cells from different species are called chimeras. As Isoo Hyun, an associate professor of bioethics and philosophy at Case Western Reserve University, explained to CNN: “If you up the biological contribution of the human stem cells, are you also somehow turning them morally into a human-like thing with human rights?”

Source: Huffington Post January 27, 2017 04:30 UTC