Ethical rules needed to curb 'Frankenstein-like experiments' on animals

Ethical rules needed to curb 'Frankenstein-like experiments' on animals
The Telegraph (One of the UK's leading newspapers), July 22, 2011
Posted: 2011-08-02 15:58:49
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/science-news/8652093/Ethical-rules-needed-...

Scientists are in danger of turning animals into monsters unless an ethical watchdog is appointed to prevent Frankenstein-like experiments, the Academy of Medical Sciences has warned. A new report into experiments which transplant human cells into animals for medical purposes said scientists may not be far from giving apes the ability to think and talk like humans. Concerns about the creation of talking apes should be taken seriously along with "what one might call the 'Frankenstein fear' that the medical research which creates 'humanised' animals is going to generate monsters", it was claimed. A regulatory body is needed to closely monitor any experiments that risk creating animals with human-like consciousness, spawning hybrid human-animal embryos, or giving animals any appearance or behavioural traits that too closely resemble humans, the report said. Scientists would, for example, be prevented from replacing a large number of an ape's brain [cells] with human cells – as has already been done in simpler animals like mice – until much more is known about the potential results.

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