YALE AND THE ISLAND OF DR. MOREAU
June 21st, 2006 by Peter
No, H.G. Wells’ novel has not come to life. But this wire story, first noticed by Connecticut Conservative, is cause for concern:
On the sun-splashed Caribbean island of St. Kitts, Yale University researchers are injecting millions of human brain cells into the heads of monkeys afflicted with Parkinson’s disease…
But the research is becoming increasingly exotic as scientists work with the brains of mice, monkeys and other mammals and begin fiddling with the hot-button issue of cloning. Harvard University researchers are attempting to clone human embryonic cells in rabbit eggs.
Such work has triggered protests from social conservatives and others who fear the blurring of species lines, invoking the image of the chimera of Greek mythology, a monstrous mix of lion, goat and serpent.
During his State of the Union speech in January, President Bush called for a ban on “human cloning in all its forms” and “human-animal hybrids,” labeling it one of the “most egregious abuses of medical research.”…
“The concerns about chimeras and mixing species may be justified in some circumstances,” Yale researcher Gene Redmond said by e-mail from his St. Kitts laboratory, where he’s studying Parkinson’s disease by injecting human brain cells into monkeys. “But there are strong scientific reasons to do it in many cases and great benefits to be had for humanity.”
CT Conservative notes that “many think that the Yale researchers are pushing the limits too far…with no regard for the ethical implications of the experiment.”
