Congress contemplates bill banning weird science
Charlie Butts - OneNewsNow - 7/14/2009 4:30:00 AM
Senators Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) and Mary Landrieu (D-Louisiana) have introduced in Congress the Human-Animal Hybrid Prohibition Act of 2009 (S. 1435). With 20 co-sponsors of the measure thus far, Landrieu is the only Democrat among that group.
Dr. David Prentice of the Family Research Council tells OneNewsNow many people will fight against the bill. "There are already scientists who are planning and starting experiments to combine human and animal hybrid embryos for experiment," he notes.
The bill does not affect use of animals or humans in legitimate research, but would ban creation in the laboratory of part-human, part-animal creatures that would blur the line between the species.
Dr. Prentice says scientists that favor hybrid research believe the experiments will cure disease and be important to medical research, but he says even some scientists involved in embryonic stem-cell research say it will result in nothing useful.
"There's one scientist who wants to make a mouse with a human brain, or others who want to grow human eggs or sperm in mice and rats for experiments," Prentice adds.
He fears the experiments will make humans less human and claims proponents are trying to "play God." "We need to channel science into valid and ethical research, and it's certainly not these human-animal hybrids," Prentice concludes.
Prentice still supports adult stem-cell research, which has proven useful in treating more than 70 diseases and medical conditions.
