British could accidentally make Taurens [update 1]
The BBC reports scientists at Newcastle University and Kings College, London, are attempting to create "hybrid human-bovine embryos." They stress the embryos would not be allowed to develop beyond a few days and will be used for stem cell research. To make a very long story short, human embryos are in short supply, so it's easier to extract the genetic information from cow eggs and insert human DNA in its place. The same thing they did with Dolly the sheep.
Why not leave the cow DNA in there and see what happens? We would create our very own Taurens, as found in the World of Warcraft. We could raise them on the plains, teach them to respect the "Earth Mother" and then they'd "pwn" us for raping the land! It would be horrible, but they're sooooo cute.
Calum MacKeller, from the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, says, "In the history of humankind, animals and human species have been separated ... you may begin to undermine the whole distinction between humans and animals ... if that happens, it might also undermine human dignity and human rights." Wait, did he just agree that the Taurens would "pwn" us?
[Thanks Thraal]
[Update 1: Apologies to the Newcastle folk, you've been added]
