Little Bo Sheep
From CCTV.com, today:
BEIJING – Scientists have created the world’s first human-sheep chimera – which has the body of a sheep and half-human organs, according to news report Monday.
The sheep have 15 percent human cells and 85 percent animal cells and their evolution brings the prospect of animal organs being transplanted into humans one step closer….
But the development is likely to revive criticisms about scientists playing God, with the possibility of silent viruses, which are harmless in animals, being introduced into the human race.
Animal rights activists fear that if the cells get mixed together, they could end up with cellular fusion, creating a hybrid which would have the features and characteristics of both man and sheep….
Does this mean animal rights activists will have to become pro-life activists?
[Photo courtesy of CCTV.]
Jill Stanek is a nurse turned speaker, columnist and blogger, a national figure in the effort to protect both preborn and postborn innocent human life.
Jill,
That is so funny. I saw this this morning and thought about sending it to you.
Great topic.
You gotta admit that Satan is pretty clever. He always disguises these things by making them appear “good”. That and mixing in just enough truth to cover up the lies.
What will it take to make people realize the HUGE danger involved in trying to take over God’s job.
Who’d want it anyway? Terrible hours, no pay, ungrateful employees, no vacation, no insurance.
I say, let God handle it. Me, I’ll just do the menial work.
Doesn’t that sheep look ticked off?
And isn’t funny that no one will complain about the moral implications of breeding humans and animals, but oh, just mention the fact that we might be affected by a disease and suddenly we start to think this might not be such a good idea.
And what if the sheep don’t want to be part human. Where is their choice.
Something else that always amazes me. We know that Satan is the father of lies and that he can’t create anything, only imitate.
So here we are patting ourselves on the back for in vitro, cloning, chimeras, test tube babies…but did you notice that no one has been able to create a sperm or an egg out of thin air? Hmmm…imitate, create…
Anyway, just wanted to say: Holy Sheep, no matter how you look at it, it just sounds like a “Baaaaaad” idea. Sounds like someone is pulling the “wool” over our eyes. “Shearly,” everyone can see this. It has obviously not been “bovinely” inspired.
Couldn’t help myself…too easy!
I slay me.
mk
MK –
I think I will start reading your posts when my daughter is NOT taking a nap. I never knew I could ‘snort’ so loudly!
Jill – I heard this on the morning news. Even though I have thought about it for several hours now, I am speechless. I didn’t think there was anyway to sum up my feelings on this until I read MK’s post.
Mk you are so funny :D
Wow, I don’t know how I feel about this. It’s a little too twisted…
Definitely not your run of the mill hybrid. lol.
But I definitely have to say I agree with in vitro fertilization. Couples who want babies should be as within their right as couples who don’t want to have babies.
Hi MK,
I’ve read the original article http://www.mailonsunday.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=444436&in_page_id=1770&in_a_source=
… and this IS exciting, very exciting. The scientist did some very different things – stuff I did not realize was possible. Chimera are supposed to be part-man and part-animal … and the way to get this was to manipulate the two species’ DNA, instead he used a sheep’s foetus and infused this with adult human stem cells from bone marrow.
It reminds me somewhat of the Chicago Hospital researcher who overcame many profound genetic abnormalities in kids by injecting adult marrow cells into the baby’s bones while in utero.
Sheep have almost the identical protein structure as human …. we have for centuties used the mule (which is a chimera) as a beast-of-burden.
Can such an animal be also used as a source of life-saving medicines?
Please do not play God and invoke the devil … the very same arguments (combined with tittering-laughter) were used to oppose the steam locomotive … and likely the atomic age too …. and countless technologies that define times.
I have not heard any kind of ethical argument on these types of cells. Maybe we should just sit tight for a while, eh?
Alyssa, (and everyone)
I think it’s important to clarify a couple of things here.
At least for myself, I believe that abortion should be made illegal. Because it is the taking of another human being, and said human being cannot speak for themself.
I don’t believe it is a religious issue. I believe it is a moral issue. It is simply wrong.
I doubt that any of us could give a “provable” answer as to why the murder of anyone is wrong to someone who has never heard of the concept. We would finally fall back on, “because it’s wrong; It just is”
I think that if abortion were turned back to the states and some states made abortion illegal, punishable by law, that the person who should be punished (and severely) is the abortion doctor, not the woman. Similar to the laws punishing dope “peddlers” more severely than drug “users”.
That said, morally speaking, I believe that in vitro, homosexuality, cloning, chimeras, contraception, pre-marital and extra-marital sex,
drug abuse, alcohol abuse, vulgar language and a whole slew of other stuff is morally wrong. I DO NOT think that these things should be made illegal (except contraceptions which abort and the killing of “extra” fetuses in in vitro), nor do I expect everyone to believe as I do. I wish these things were unacceptable to society, but am not naive enough to think that we will ever live in a society where this stuff does not go on. I am for adult stem cell research, but think embryonic stem cell research should be illegal because it also takes a life.
I must live in this world, but do not have to be part of this world. Our church is not behind the times, but beyond them.
Much of what we tout on this site is not stuff that we want to be made illegal and have everyone who contracepts be put behind bars. That would be ludicrous.
Only abortion, (and anything that causes one) should be made illegal. Freezing embryos? Not so good. The pill? Umm…no. Making human litters smaller by killing the extra babies? Gotta go.
I think this is an important distinction to make because otherwise we sound like we want to be dictators.
Even abstinence only classes (which by the way does not mean only teaching abstinence, but teaching that only abstinence works all the time) is just a tool. It is not meant to be forced on anyone, just taught as a safe alternative. No std’s, no pregnancies, no forcing!
mk
John, 1:30p: Cross-breeding animals and humans is a line we do not want to cross, although it is really too late.
One researcher is already working on creating rabbit-human embryos.
Another has inserted human cells in mouse brains.
Another has created “s/he-males” by mixing male and female cells in the same human embryo.
Another has inserted several million human neural cells into the brain of a monkey.
Another researcher inserted his own cells into a cow egg.
And finally, by certainly not conclusively, researchers have created pigs with human blood running through their veins.
There are likely more combinations – some bone-chilling – of which we are not yet aware. One can imagine the implications, and yes, they must include God implications. At what point would these creatures acquire souls? Etc., etc., etc.
Well John,
I can see where you’re coming from. And if I believed that for one minute it would end with livers and kidneys, I might even “sit tight”.
But we are dealing with an insane society, filled with immoral meglomaniacs who “do” simply because they “can”.
Horses mating with donkeys is a little different than human’s “mating” with sheep. (isn’t there a greek joke about that?). Just don’t think I’m willing to go there. Tho, out of necessity (can’t do anything to stop it), I will “sit tight”.
But I’m willing to bet sheep dip that it explodes in our faces eventually.
mk
Jill,
I do see the God-problem ((((( actually the church problem ))))) but have to think about whether or not this is a problem handled best by God. Many believe Jesus was crucified on the hill-Calvary. It is the hill (garbage-dump) for Old Jerusalem. Jesus handled human insults before … is this yet one more?
this (for me) poses a humongous ethical dilemma, because I likely would not be alive today if I hadn’t done a very similar treatment some 25 years ago.
John,
At this point, I wouldn’t lose sleep over it. To be a mortal sin you have to know it’s a mortal sin and do it anyway. Since this is so new, not much has been said by the church. If and when the church ever comes out with a declaration either way, you can deal with it then. I’m sure a good confession would take care of the problem.
My children were vaccinated with vaccines carrying aborted fetuses. I didn’t know. Even the church that it’s okay, because the deed is done.
Tho, it may be hypocritical, I’m glad you “sneaked” in and had the treatment because I am so glad to have made your acquaintance.
Just don’t make a habit of it:)
MK
John, 3:18p: God deals with problems we create on a nanosecond basis. But we try not to create them purposefully. Read Romans 6. (“Should we continue to sin so that God’s kindness will uncrease? That’s unthinkable!”)
And I can’t imagine you underwent a similar treatment 25 years ago? This kind of stuff wasn’t around then.
thanks MK,
but I (like you) am a sh**-disturber, and am also among a very small group worldwide who have actually done the therapy and have reaped many benefits from it. This latest incarnation is a wee bit different, but I’m already manipulating the ideas from the ‘older’ therapy for this one.
The combination has the potential to assist in the improvement/cure of hundreds of diverse ailments. For instance it can be used for re-building of all tissue from a severe burn. It can also be an effective anti-cancer treatment. [The sheep species has almost no cancer. Certain types of cancer are virtually non-existent.] And there is much, much more .
Seems to me this is a similar quandary to the one experienced by the earliest Christians … do-I/do-I-not participate in Jewish spirituality around the Temple?
Hi Jill,
it was then called Cell Therapy. Although the basic idea was Hans Neiper (Switzerland), it was developed by a team of university medical-veterinary profs mostly from Germany. What they did was abort sheep foetuses and then section them into about 90 different fractions (including the placenta). Each fraction was freeze dried (this has many beneficial effects for the therapy). The cells chosen (usually 5) corresponded to the organ system most affected.
The cells were re-hydrated and the solution subcutaneously injected at the small of the back. There was no need to operate, because of protein coding, they would gravitate to the targeted organs through the blood stream. The placenta cells were also injected because it was found to dramatically increase the re-building of targeted tissue.
Sheep only have two amino acids, that are different from human. So our immune system destroys foreign tissue. However the freeze-drying often fragments intact proteins into smaller units. The units not destroyed by the immune system were used to re-build wasted organ tissue.
The difference with this technique seems to imply an even stronger sheep-human interconnection – something that may help with mainly immune disorders – a weak point for Cell Therapy.
So, its not so easy to just ignore, eh?
John,
Actually I’d feel much better if sheep genes were being injected into humans. That might sound crazy, but I just don’t feel comfortable with putting anything human into a non-human. I think it’s what Jill says…what about the soul.
It seems less like the jewish spirituality argument than the embryonic vs adult stem cell.
They use the same rationale. It could save thousands of lives. It could cure hundreds of diseases. But at what cost? We simply don’t know.
The other thing to ask yourself, (and this is easy for me since I don’t have a devastating illness that I have been living with for 50 some years), is if I am a Catholic, and am not afraid to die, then why would I take such a great chance at possibly screwing up my afterlife just to have a cushier life now?
You might answer that you’re not afraid to die, but rather, are afraid to live. That would have more sway.
But I think, that every saint who ever lived, was given a cross. These, they accepted,even welcomed. Some were sick, some just worked night and day for the cause. Some were martyred. But rather than look for a way to alleviate their suffering, they embraced it.
Of course, that’s why they’re saints and we’re just regular folk…but maybe, just maybe, you’re being asked to use your illness for a greater good.
You know, like every abortion sends evil out there. So Sue has an abortion in Kansas and some guy in Toledo gets cancer. BUT…you offer up your illness, wholeheartedly, and some guy in Japan gets converted.
I don’t know…like I said, it’s not me who’s sick. But I have had other things in my life that were extremely hard and I’m sure I’ll have more. Yet every time I turned them over and offered them up, I felt the most amazing peace, and knew, just knew, that all was as it should be.
MK
MK … the problem is not quite the same as you have stated … figuring out the stuff already tried is OK … it’s this rhealm of the future that I hope to contemplate.
I have invented a machine for most disabled people. So far, I have run-up against a very strong resistance. Am I to understand that this machine was not meant to be because of resistance? Am I being stubborn or spiritually foolhady? You know the tune … once there was a little old-ram who butt his head against a big old-dam ,,,,,,,,,,,,
The same holds true here … does God want me to go for it (St. Jean D’Arc) or go-with-the-flow? {He really is a quiet God, at times!)
Tell me more about this machine…
MK … the problem is not quite the same as you have stated … figuring out the stuff already tried is OK … it’s this rhealm of the future that I hope to contemplate.
You gotta be less cryptic. What procedure did you have done 25 years ago? What stuff is okay? What resistance are you being met with?
mk
John, what you describe is far different than what my post describes. Treatments derived from animals is acceptable. (Actually, almost all human treatments were first tested on animals, slightly different topic, but related.)
Pig valves are used to replace defective human heart valves. Diabetics have used insulin from pigs and cows. I’m sure the list is much longer than what I can think of off the top of my head.
But combining human cells with animal cells is tampering where we should not. Human beings are the only beings created in the image of God.
Hi Jill,
there is also the very human dimension of transgenic species being accepted as owners? … voters? etc. My mind just boggles at the implications. Seems to me that the thrust to eliminate Jewish inferior traits was one of the prime reasons why people with 1/32 Jewish heritage were sent to Auschwitz by the Nazi’s. Are we going down a similar path by claiming a certain % human and another % animal? I can just hear some lawyers now: “The USA is composed of citizens who vote. Who claimed that a citizen be 100% human? This is not in the constitution.”
since we’re on the topic of abortion – for what % would an abortion be OK?
MK,
the invention:
http://www.personainternet.com/jlmcdonell/thegogi.html
John, 10:19a: Well, it’s been awhile, but you’ve gone over my head again. I think we’re in agreement? :)
there may be a way here out of this pro-life vs pro-abortion impasse; which here could as easily be an-old-way vs a-young-way. Let’s go make-believe 30 years from now … we old pro-lifers have all died now human life is up to you folks (old pro-choicers).
A law has recently been passed. It says that the vast majority of Americans(including legislators) are now mutants. They do affirm that the 100 percent’ers are protected by our Constitution. So, direct military action against them is not permissible.
The 100%’ers killed our animal ancestors for convenience, therefore, we permit only 100%’ers to have abortions ((this service is illegal for all mutants)).
You 100%’ers but old-choice’ers remember their famous phrase ‘another human cannot take the body-nutrients from anyone else without their consent’. This phrasing helped exterminate black-Americans. It’s been only 5 years ago that the last one died. These mutant are now using this argument (because we eat valuable resources) to help eliminate us…
How do we refute this …hell, my grand-kids are mutants now?
Are There ANY Lines They are not Willing to Cross?
By Bethany Kerr: From Commentary Magazine: Yuval Levin – 3.2.2007 – 11:44AM (copied in full) The stem-cell debate raging in the U.S. these last six years has hinged on a question of life and death—that is, whether destroying a human…