- Scientists have been warned that their latest experiments
may accidently produce monkeys with brains more human than animal.
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- In cutting-edge experiments, scientists have injected
human brain cells into monkey fetuses to study the effects.
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- Critics argue that if these fetuses are allowed to develop
into self-aware subjects, science will be thrown into an ethical nightmare.
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- An eminent committee of American scientists will call
for restrictions into the research, saying the outcome of such studies
cannot be predicted and may in fact produce subjects with a 'super-animal'
intelligence.
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- The high-powered committee of animal behaviourists, lawyers,
philosophers, bio-ethicists and neuro-scientists was established four years
ago to examine the growing numbers of human/monkey experiments.
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- These procedures, known as 'human-primate chimeras',
involve the combination of human and monkey cells, tissue and DNA to observe
any effect and examine the possibility that such combination could actually
exist.
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- Chimeras are mythical monsters from Greek literature,
which combined various bodyparts from lions, goats nd snakes.
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- This team will soon publish its conclusions in leading
journal Science. In the report the committee will address such unsettling
questions as whether introducing human cells into non-human primate brains
could cause "significant physical or biochemical changes that make
the brain more human-like" and how those changes could be detected.
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- The committee will also examine how detectable differences
in the monkey's brains, for example emotional or behavioural changes, or
if the monkeys developed 'self awareness', could be measured - and dealt
with.
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- "What we were trying to do was anticipate - recognising
that if science were to take that path there might be some different kinds
of moral challenges." said committee co-chairman Dr Ruth Faden, a
professor in biomedical ethics.
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- http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117,15891104-13762,00.html
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