some news on the wire today about scientists injecting human brain cells into monkey fetuses to study the effects and the loud calls for restrictions into the research. what struck me instantly was this sentence: “critics argue that if these fetuses are allowed to develop into self-aware subjects, science will be thrown into an ethical nightmare.” true though it may be doesn’t it strike anyone as a bit ugly that ethical red flags are only raised once the human d.n.a. is introduced into the equation?

isn’t there something ethically questionable about experimenting on any sentient creature? we poke around in the genetic code of everything under the sun. we inject lab animals with every sort of poison. we create mutants daily. we infect animals hourly. hell we test out our fucking mascara on them don’t we? we have been chimera makers for quite a while now. only the part human chimera gets people upset. isn’t that just like us? ethics? hahaha.

with cloning it’s essentially the same stumbling block because let’s face it, no one really gives a shit about cloning animals, it’s the implications for humanity (whether it be the possible effect to our diets or the portents for “replicants”) which make people take notice, speak up, and get hot under the ethical collar. isn’t there something sort of gross about that? if we are talking ethics shouldn’t the lines be pretty rigid? seems they are very blurry indeed.

in a way it seems like the exact opposite tact would be the most ethical doesn’t it? you can’t ask an animal to volunteer can you? “excuse me mrs. pig would it be alright if we grew some human organs in your future progeny for a possible harvest operation down the line?” suuuuuweeeeeee suuuuuweeeeeee!!!! “guess that’s a yes? thanks mrs. pig” even the benefits our noodling aim for are benefits for us alone about 90% of the time aren’t they? isn’t all the “ethics” talk a bit hollow?

don’t get me wrong, i’m not not holding any poster paint signs, chanting outside max factors r&d facility. actually it seems to me the chimera genie is out of the bottle. so is the clone genie. personally i’m all for letting the future arrive. but this weird parallax view of ethics bugs me a little. only a thought. probably just cranky today.

anyhow the story is interesting, all perceived hypocrisy aside, and so are chimera in general. so there.