An Evil Chimera Science Update

by metavalent

As is so often the case, thanks again to Dr. J for bringing attention to this article and prompting me to find out more about Pharyngula’s utterly brilliant content. Written by Professor Paul Z. Meyers, the blog is subtitled “Evolution, development, and random biological ejaculations from a godless liberal.” Here’s an excerpt:<blockquote>Just as a little fantasy, I don’t think the proponents of this compromise quite realize what new ethical dilemmas they are opening up, and expect to see the door slammed shut once some of the possibilities sink in. One thing to think about: if you pull a few totipotent cells out of one embryo, a few more out of another and another, one thing you can do is reconstitute a chimeric new individual out of the bits and pieces—a kind of Frankenembryo. This isn’t at all far-fetched: tetraparental mice have been made, and tetragametic humans spontaneously occur.</blockquote>