On Thursday, the federal government announced that it will be lifting a ban on funding the controversial stem cell research that involves creating an embryos that are a combination of human and animal DNA.
The moratorium was placed in September of 2015 because National Institutes of Health officials "needed to assess the science and to evaluate the ethical and moral questions it raises.”
Stem cell research as is, is already enormously controversial. But now scientists want to mix human and animal DNA together? I don’t know how to feel about that, but right now I’m picturing centaurs roaming the streets and mermaids exploring the world’s oceans.
These special embryos are going by the name of “chimeras.” Doctors hope to use this odd combination to study human diseases further and, if successful enough, create animals with human organs that can then be used for organ transplants. Additionally, the NIH would consider creating animals with human sperm and eggs in order to further study fetal development and infertility. But the animals with human organs will reportedly never be allowed to mate.
The NIH wants scientists to get federal taxpayer dollars in order to conduct these experiments. The NIH has proposed a new policy, that although places certain restrictions on the creation of these mutant embryos, doesn’t make it any more justifiable or comforting.
The official document states:
IV. Research Not Eligible for NIH Funding:
A. Research in which human pluripotent stem cells are introduced into non-human primate embryos up through the end of the blastocyst stage, is not eligible for funding.
B. Research involving the breeding of animals where the introduction of human cells may contribute to the germline, is not eligible for funding.
C. NIH funding of the derivation of stem cells from human embryos is prohibited by the annual appropriations limitations on the funding of human embryo research (see e.g. Section 508, Omnibus Appropriations Act, 2016, Pub. L.114-113, 12/18/15), otherwise known as the Dickey Amendment.
D. Research using hESCs derived from other sources, including somatic cell nuclear transfer, parthenogenesis, and/or IVF embryos created for research purposes, is not eligible for NIH funding.
A professor of cell biology and anatomy at New York Medical College expressed his concerns to NPR, stating, "You're getting into unsettling ground that I think is damaging to our sense of humanity.”
I can’t help but agree more.