Real-life experiments and ethical concerns

 

Relating these kinds of science fiction films to any kind of theory or relevant examples is near impossible, as theories are typically based on real-life occurancies, rather than the imagined. 

 

I did however find a relevent article, explainging the experiments and legal/ethical concerns in relation to these procedures.

 

Russo, J. (uknown) eHow, [online] Experiments with Human-Animal Hybrids

 

 

 

 

Experiments with Human-Animal Hybrids

 

Human-animal hybrids, or parahumans, have long been a source of ethical and scientific controversy. Beginning in the 20th century, scientists and fiction authors began exploring the possibility of a viable life form containing both human and nonhuman DNA. These hybrids or chimeras could theoretically enable a better understanding of human origins. They could also facilitate medical advances. To date, few scientists have experimented with the creation of human hybrids, and no experiments have led to the development of viable parahuman offspring. 

 

 

 

• Ivanov Experiments

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    Professor Il'ya Ivanov of the Soviet Union was the first scientist to pioneer the development of human hybrids. Beginning in the 1920s, Ivanov attempted to create viable fetuses by combining human gametes with those of our closest evolutionary relatives: chimpanzees, gorillas and orangutans. Ivanov attempted to inseminate several female chimps with human sperm, but conception was unsuccessful. With the support of the Society of Materialist Biologists, Ivanov also began a project to inseminate human women with the sperm of nonhuman primates, but he was unable to find enough human volunteers or post-pubescent male apes to complete the project.

  Chimera Experiments

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    Human hybridization experiments were largely abandoned by science until the advent of cloning and genetic modification. Beginning in the 1990s and 2000s, scientists began investigating chimerism -- the asexual combination of unrelated animals. In 2003 scientists in Shanghai were successful in fusing rabbit eggs with human DNA. The Mayo Clinic has also successfully engineered pigs with human blood, and scientists at Stanford University investigated the creation of mice with human brains (later abandoning the experiment due to ethical concerns). These parahuman organisms are classified as chimeras, not true hybrids, and they can occur even if the species involved are not closely related.

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  Potential Benefits

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    Research into human-animal hybridization may, in theory, advance our understanding of evolution and genetics. Perhaps more importantly, this area of research could facilitate the development of animals capable of providing human organs, tissues and blood for use in medicine. Animals with human DNA could also facilitate the development of new treatments and vaccines. For example, mice with human-like biology could be used to develop an effective AIDS vaccine, and guinea pigs with human-like nerve cells could enable research into traumatic brain injury recovery. The World Transhumanist Association and National Academy of Sciences are among organizations supporting the conscientious use of human hybrids in science and medicine.

  Ethical Considerations

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    Despite their potential benefits to science, human hybrid experiments are extremely controversial. There is no scientific or ethical consensus regarding the acceptability of human hybrid experiments. No laws currently exist defining personhood for parahumans. For example, there are no laws that would grant human rights to an animal with a human brain, even if it were as sentient and intelligent as an average human being. Hybridization also questions the boundary between related species and blurs our definitions of human and nonhuman creatures. Additionally, it requires the creation and destruction of potentially nonviable humanoid fetuses -- a practice that some activists would regard as unethical. If human hybrid research CONTINUES , these considerations could eventually cause significant legal, scientific and philosophical controversies.