A human-monkey chimeric blastocyst. Credit: Weizhi Ji/Kunming University of Science and Technology. (photo: Weizhi Ji/Kunming University of Science and Technology.)
An article published April 15 in the journal Cell described how scientists took a blastocyst from a macaque and added human cells.
By Christine Rousselle, National Catholic Register, A
WASHINGTON — Catholic scientists and ethicists have warned of the potential for a slippery slope in response to reports that scientists had successfully created a “chimeric embryo” that was part macaque monkey and part human.
An article published April 15 in the journal Cell described how scientists took a blastocyst from a macaque and added human cells. The blastocyst then developed into a chimeric embryo, meaning it has parts of two species. It is the goal that these beings could be used to grow human organs, which would then be used in transplantation.
Similar experiments have occurred using other animals; this was the first time a monkey-human chimera had been created. …