Okay, I know I said I was on vacation, but I just had to blog about a couple of things. The first is that members of Congress have introduced the Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act of 2009 which would ban the production of certain animal-human hybrids in research. This announcement has made some bloggers go all apoplectic. Like Pharnygula who asks "Why do they hate the Manimal." He thinks that this bill will injure scientific progress. He gives the following examples:One more example: scientists have made transgenic pigs carrying five human genes. The idea is to create animals that can be a source for xenografts — transplanted organs — in humans with a reduced level of rejection. These pigs would become illegal under the Brownback bill, because they mingle a blessedly human H-transferase gene with pig cells.
Then he asks:
I'd like Brownback to answer a simple question. Does putting the human insulin or growth factor gene into E. coli violate the dignity of the human person? If it does, he's suggesting shutting down a good chunk of the pharmaceutical industry.
Let us actually look at the Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act of 2009 and see what it actually says. This bill defines an animal-human hybrid as:
(1) HUMAN-ANIMAL HYBRID- The term ‘human-animal hybrid’ means--
‘(A) a human embryo into which a non-human cell or cells (or the component parts thereof) have been introduced to render the embryo’s membership in the species Homo sapiens uncertain;
‘(B) a hybrid human/animal embryo produced by fertilizing a human egg with non-human sperm;
‘(C) a hybrid human/animal embryo produced by fertilizing a non-human egg with human sperm;
‘(D) an embryo produced by introducing a non-human nucleus into a human egg;
‘(E) an embryo produced by introducing a human nucleus into a non-human egg;
‘(F) an embryo containing at least haploid sets of chromosomes from both a human and a non-human life form;
‘(G) a non-human life form engineered such that human gametes develop within the body of a non-human life form; or
‘(H) a non-human life form engineered such that it contains a human brain or a brain derived wholly or predominantly from human neural tissues.
‘(2) HUMAN EMBRYO- The term ‘human embryo’ means an organism of the species Homo sapiens during the earliest stages of development, from 1 cell up to 8 weeks.
So they want to ban the adding of animal DNA to a human embryo (not embryonic stem cells), the production of human sex cells like egg and sperm in animals, fusing human and animal egg and sperm, and creating animals with all or mostly human brain tissue. The bill also bans the implantation of animal embryos in human wombs and human embryos in animal wombs.
So the procedures that Pharyngula talks about are not prohibited by the legislation. This legislation deals with genetically engineering human embryos with animal genes NOT genetically engineering animals with a few human genes. This bill will not "shut down a good chunk of the pharmaceutical industry."
What is prohibited is the manipulation of human life at its earliest stages by introducing animal DNA, implanting human embryos into other species (and vice versa) and creating animals with mostly human brain tissue. I believe these are very reasonable restrictions and I believe the majority of American would agree. Scientists like Pharyngula may think such restrictions are not needed, but they are. Scientists in this country are already producing cloned human embryos using cow, rabbit and mouse eggs. Most of the other procedures have not yet been accomplished, but someone will try. I think the majority of Americans will agree that this kind of science is not the kind we want to allow in our country.
