UK's first human-cow embryos created

what part of the world do you live in where april fools is still going on?

wait..
oh no...

is this real?

It is real. Should we be worried?

Love the picture!

short answer... yes.

long answer... A whole fripping lot.

Even if these hybrids are being 'created for research'? I suppose I'd be concerned that the 0.1% of animal DNA will be enough to alter the DNA in the stem cells... and if those stem cells eventually are used to treat a condition, the DNA will mutate over time and eventually people will have 4 stomachs or tails or moo when they're excited.

this is disgusting, Gordon Brown should be shot.
If you want to use living cells and creatures to find the cures for the diseases of one species... it should be THAT SPECIES alone.

Haha... you know, sometimes I think my mother-in-law was... hehe... bred from a human and cow embryo! HA!

I'm kidding, I'm not even married but wow... what a gag.

What a gag...

Udderly fascinating!

When i first read this is thought how disgusting... but if i actually had one of those incurable diseases and this provided me with a chance to survive i'm not so sure my reaction would be the same... even if i did have to grow a tail!

It does make you wonder where we're headed. I'm torn between the potential benefits stem cell research has in terms of improving quality of life but then in my wildest imagination I can see some really scary abuses of this technology around the corner.

That this can even be done discourages me more from eating beef

so when you call that fat chick down the street a cow....you actually arent lying! she is a cow!

so like when people say im indian...and the idiot says you a WOO-WOO indian or a......well you get what i mean...people will be like...hey look at tht cow, and the idiot will say...you mean like a "hey that fat lady? or the moo-cow?"

i am seminole by the way....and proud of it...just incase i offended people...i said that because you know everyone does that...im just pointing it out.

wow. way to go science!

and by the way i am that fat lady across the street. lolol

good thing okinawanmajik, because that was pretty offensive...I'm glad you were just pointing it out. It's funny how certain forms of discrimination are more acceptable than others...

As for this story, I really don't know what to think. I can't claim to understand how this works, but it sounds a lot like a bad science fiction novel.

well i wanted to put that little caveat in about the indian thing. i tell people im indian and they are like you mean the whoo whoo or the ...... and because i guess because of my look i could go either way....(i dont think so though) so i say im seminole...and people are even more clueless!

so i didnt want to offend anyone, but i know that thats something that damn near EVERY one in america says...makes it no less stupid though.

what does damn near every american say?

they call fat women cows...

moo

nice.

This is a terrible idea that makes me sick to my stomach.

What happens if those embryos weren't destroyed after being harvested for stem cells and instead gave birth to a man/cow child? In our pursuit for knowledge do you think science has crossed the line?

I'm afraid.....very afraid!!!!

Not really sure where they got the 99.9% vs 0.1% of human vs cow, but the article seems to describe "simple" human cloning, only the enucleate egg is from a cow. So is this a way to produce human embryonic stem cells using cloning technology...without 'completely' using human parts? Thats what it looks like to me. Can't clone humans, can't create human embryonic stem cells for research, BUT you can clone human embryonic stem cells if you use cow eggs. Maybe Dr. Moreau has something to say about this.

Many say they play God.
Many say that this is disgusting and immoral.

People bitch too much on here.

When your aunt gets cured of Parkinson's one day, bet no one will be complaining then.

Damn, we are hypocrites.

Very true Hatham, but stem cells aside my main concern is with the splicing of the species.

Oh, I am not singling anyone out at all, hence the "we" in my final sentence.

I am more amazed by humanity's ability to learn this rather than if it is right or wrong. There are after all no absolutes.

i look forward to the day when organ farms are accessible to the average person - even so far as having 40,000 square foot controlled environments where hundreds of replicated human bodies , minus a brain , can be harvested for parts , from tendons to kidneys etc. - actually , these "parts" should be able to be sold in an open market , subject to strict quality control , and it should be no more difficult for a person to buy the needed organ than to buy a loaf of bread - installation fees ( surgeons , etc. ) should also be regulated as to prevent price gouging .

Brings new meaning to the term "That chick's a heifer."

This upsets me dearly.

i wish life was simpler....

cant we just live and die and not create cow people?

We still can't cure cancer, or AIDS and some people are still dying from curable diseases. We have to evolve as a species if we want to survive. Evolution will happen, whether or not you want it to. Those of you who think Jesus will return before that happens are in for a long wait.

imagine how the cow's feel?

we drain the from their milk - eat their remains - and use their skin for accessories... now we want their eggs?? they don't want no crazy human-cow babies! disease sucks... but we don't need to drag them into it.

let's try not hurt anything else in the process, ok?

=) yeah, why cows, right? but, supposedly, they're not making cow-people. this might bear a lil quoting here...

"John Burn, head of the Institute of Human Genetics at Newcastle University, said the embryos had been created purely for research. He told the BBC's Six O'Clock News last night: "If you look down the microscope it looks like semolina and it stays like that. It's never going to be anything other than a pile of cells. What it does is give us the tools to find out the simple questions: how can we better understand the disease processes by working with those cells in the body?"

The research has not yet been published, but the team plans to submit the work for peer review in the coming months. Other scientists welcomed the work but also urged caution in interpreting the results..."

...and apparently, some people like Josephine Quintavalle of CRE didn't think it was much worth worrying about, as the research wasn't as good as Lyle and his group hope it is I guess...

Cow-people? Ted Turner did recently say cannibalism would be in our future.... Time to become a vegetarian.