Human Hybrids for a Good Cause: When Myths Become Reality

Much ancient folklore tell tales of different animal combinations such as a Griffin; which is a lion with the head and wings of an eagle, or a Mermaid; which is half fish and half human. Besides the Mermaid or Merman the most common heard tale is of the Centaur, half horse with its head resembling that of a man. Theories of the origin and truths of these tales have been the talk of the centuries. Recently, British scientists are challenging the folklores to make them reality for their good cause of medicine.

British stem cell experts are currently looking for permission to create a human rabbit by blending human cells with rabbit eggs to generate a hybrid embryo. There are three British teams that are working on this task right now seeking licenses from the Human Fertilization and the Embryology Authority that would allow them to create a human that is 0.1% rabbit. So what is the reasoning behind this request?

These human-rabbit embryos could be the key to studying and understanding incurable human diseases that come from stem cells that produce and or carry genetic defects. We all know how fertile rabbits are; using 0.1% of a rabbit's gene there is a quicker chance in generating the stem cells rather than waiting up to ten years for human stem cell growth. Many researchers feel that by also mixing an animal into the equation, this leaves out the ethical tribulations of interfering with a human being's life.

According to the team of scientists, the embryo will not be implanted into a woman and they have no desire on letting the embryo to develop any longer than two weeks. So who is going to give an egg to let this experiment be attempted? The team is looking towards spare eggs that are donated by couples undergoing fertility treatment.