Chimeras: Beyond Our Moral Depth?
By Jonathan Balcombe, Ph.D.
The chimeras I learned about as a biology student—obscure,
strange-looking fishes of the ocean depths—are not the same
as the ones now at the center of a debate in medical ethics. These
chimeras are made by humans, not by nature. As stem cell technology
marches ahead, science now has the means to create creatures that
attempt to blur the line between humans and other animals. If experimenters
have their way, the specter of a half-chimp/half-man or a mouse
with a human brain will no longer be the stuff of science fiction.
| If experimenters have their way, the
specter of a half-chimp/half-man or mouse with a human brain
will no longer be the stuff of science fiction. |
The allure, from the biomedical perspective, is the hope that
such chimeras will provide a “hugely useful” tool in
biomedical research.1 That’s why new guidelines for research
issued in April 2005 by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences concluded,
in a special section titled “Interspecies Mixing,” that
there were valid reasons for creating chimeras.
The moral minefield, as expressed by those closest to the debate,
revolves around the potential for more animal suffering, as species
are manipulated, bred, and killed.
Irving Weissman at Stanford University (and of StemCells, Inc.)
is trying to create a strain of mouse that loses its own brain
cells just before birth. By transplanting human neuronal stem cells
into the brains of these mice, scientists could create a mouse
with a brain made almost entirely of human brain cells.2
Clearly, moral restraint is called for. Yet more often than not,
concerns are expressed only with regard to potential human suffering.
Science isn’t likely to abide the production of humanized
chimeras, but what about the animals who stand to lose so much
more in the chimera stakes? Modern studies demonstrate that they,
too, have thoughts, feelings, and experiences.
Animals believe, play, plan, anticipate, deceive, remember, and
create tools.3 They feel a broad range of emotions ranging from
joy and excitement to frustration and despair4 and they’re
attracted to the same environmental rewards (e.g., palatable food,
social and sexual contact) as are we.5
Today, animals in laboratories routinely endure deplorably confined,
impoverished, and stressful conditions6 and are subjected to experiments
that are only rarely in their own interests. Until these conditions
are improved and the animals given a decent quality of life, chimeras
ought to be left where they are—swimming in the ocean depths.
References
1. Shreeve J. I, chimera. New Scientist. 2005;186:39-43.
2.
Ibid.
3. Griffin DR, Speck GB. New evidence of animal consciousness. Anim
Cogn. 2004;7:5-18.
4. Panksepp J. 2005. Affective consciousness:
core emotional feelings in animals and humans. Conscious Cogn 14:30-80.
5.
Balcombe JP. Pleasurable kingdom: animals and the nature
of feeling good. London: Macmillan; in press.
6. Balcombe JP,
Barnard N, Sandusky C. 2004 Laboratory routines cause animal stress. Contemp Top Anim Sci. 2004;43(6):42-51.
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