'Human-brained' monkeys

[__Kratos__]

SCIENTISTS have been warned that their latest experiments may accidently produce monkeys with brains more human than animal.

In cutting-edge experiments, scientists have injected human brain cells into monkey fetuses to study the effects.

Critics argue that if these fetuses are allowed to develop into self-aware subjects, science will be thrown into an ethical nightmare.

An eminent committee of American scientists will call for restrictions into the research, saying the outcome of such studies cannot be predicted and may in fact produce subjects with a 'super-animal' intelligence.

The high-powered committee of animal behaviourists, lawyers, philosophers, bio-ethicists and neuro-scientists was established four years ago to examine the growing numbers of human/monkey experiments.

These procedures, known as 'human-primate chimeras', involve the combination of human and monkey cells, tissue and DNA to observe any effect and examine the possibility that such combination could actually exist.

Chimeras are mythical monsters from Greek literature, which combined various bodyparts from lions, goats nd snakes.

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This team will soon publish its conclusions in leading journal Science. In the report the committee will address such unsettling questions as whether introducing human cells into non-human primate brains could cause "significant physical or biochemical changes that make the brain more human-like" and how those changes could be detected.

The committee will also examine how detectable differences in the monkey's brains, for example emotional or behavioural changes, or if the monkeys developed 'self awareness', could be measured - and dealt with.

"What we were trying to do was anticipate - recognising that if science were to take that path there might be some different kinds of moral challenges." said committee co-chairman Dr Ruth Faden, a professor in biomedical ethics.

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I'm pretty open minded when it comes to science but this story disturbed me.

[Ashley-Star*Child]

I already made a post about this called 'Human/Ape Chimeras'. Seems some people think it's unecessary because they already ARE apes.....hmmmm.

[PadawanOsswe]

dont they know that this is how monkeys take over the planet , QUICK! Get Charleton Heston into the escape vessal immediatly!

[thefounder]

I think it is cruel, this experiment has no real purpose that could serve humanity. Why do we need smart monkeys? This is cruel and inhuman, we are tourchuring(sp) creatures that DO have feelings and DO have their own simplistic lives to live. These scientists are nuts, they are a waste of everyones money...

[Sc4v3ng3r]

Althouth that in theory, we descend from the monkey..I always saw monkeys(especially chimps and gorillas) as our equals. Both of us has something that the other dosnt have, and vice-versa. We are abstract creature, while they are in a complete symbiose with nature...unlike us, because without our hability to invent, we are doomed. But both of us has are curious creature, with a complex political group. And both of us are able to love. Yea, monkeys can love.

Monkey can show an extremly RAW intelligence without the need of human cells.

[Conspiracy]

monkeys becoming smarter in other words? id pay to watch humans fight against monkeys.

[final flight]

Pretty soon our bosses really will be monkeys.

[Irish]

I suppose that if you believe in the theory of evolution they would only be giving the monkeys a boost in evolution so they could catch up with their cousins.

And on the other hand they probably would make great politicians.

[Fluffybunny]

I think that there are plenty of monkey brained humans around these days, so I doubt it will make much of a difference.

[PadawanOsswe]

NO! STAY AWAY FROM THE MONKEYS! LET THEM BE!

[AztecInca]

I really dont see what right we have to do experiements such as these on any of Earth`s beautiful ceratures, but thats just my opinion!

[Xyfer]

Well a lot of good DOES come from testing animals. By studying the effects of things on animals we can find many things of use to us that can help improve our lives. However, this experiment does seem pointless when looking at it from my point of view. Why do we need smarter monkeys? These scientists have watched too much "Planet of the Apes."

[bathory]

I think it is cruel, this experiment has no real purpose that could serve humanity.

not true, i'm sure it would have implications on things such as treating brain damage, degenerative brain diseases, hell even things like downs syndrome perhaps and other things like that

sure its an ethical nightmare, but i think we need to push the boundaries of human understanding, i think there is a differene between conducting an experiment to see what happens, and conducting an experiment that has already been validated.

[Blizno]

First, chimps and gorillas ARE NOT monkeys! They are much, much more closely related to us than they are to monkeys. Chimps and gorillas are apes - they are not monkeys. Monkeys and apes walk on all fours and have hair. So do squirrels. So do horses. The dumbest ape is smarter than the smartest monkey. All monkeys have tails. All apes have no tail. The list of differences goes on and on.

If the authors wrongly used the word monkey to refer to apes, they made a second mistake. Chimps are gorillas are obviously self-aware already. They look in a mirror and know they're seeing themselves. Monkeys, dogs, cats, etc. look in a mirror and act as if they're seeing another animal, not themselves.

Finally, the goal of these experiments is not to make smarter animals. The goal is to make non-human test subjects that can have human diseases. That way, drugs and therapies can be tested without endangering human beings. If the chimera you've made is 50% human, then testing it with untried drugs is no better than doing the same to a human, thus the ethical dilemma.

[aesir23]

Althouth that in theory, we descend from the monkey..I always saw monkeys(especially chimps and gorillas) as our equals.

That's a common misconception of the evolutionary theory, nobody's saying that we descended from modern apes, rather that we descended from some prehistoric ape that is the common ancestor to Humans, Chimpanzees, and Bonobos. We diverged from them millions of years ago, and Chimpanzees and Bonobos diverged much later. All three have been evolving this whole time, just in different environments with different selective factors.

The apes that we share the world with today are not our primative ancestors but our cousins, and yes, our equals.

(Is this giant prefrontal lobe really worth the trouble of war, over-population, envirnmental distruction, and 50 hour work weeks? And we call animals stupid.)

[charon]

To understand human evolution one must understand where humans fit in relation to other forms of life. Modern humans belong to the group of mammals known as Primates. This is the scientific category describing such diverse creatures as lemurs, lorises, tarsiers, the monkeys of the New World and Old World, and also the apes. As primates we all share many characteristics, such as overlapping fields of vision caused by forward looking eyes (this allows for greater 3D vision), fine ability to grasp and handle objects in our hands, and enlarged brains relative to body size. The evolution of the Primates started in the early part of the Eocene epoch (about 55 million years ago).

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[moomooman]

you know who else knows they are looking at themselves in a mirror? dolphinls. i think we should do this experiment with dolphins too. why do these types of experiments? because we can and its interesting and fun, and what harm is it really causing? if it was something really bad then we shouldnt do it, but i think its bad ass. what if it made the apes be able to talk? id love to talk to a monkey and ask them about their more ape like characteristics, ask them about there ape ways and what not.

[Blizno]

you know who else knows they are looking at themselves in a mirror? dolphinls. i think we should do this experiment with dolphins too. why do these types of experiments? because we can and its interesting and fun, and what harm is it really causing? if it was something really bad then we shouldnt do it, but i think its bad ass. what if it made the apes be able to talk? id love to talk to a monkey and ask them about their more ape like characteristics, ask them about there ape ways and what not.

749427[/snapback]

Dolphins and some whales have been tested in this way. They pass the test. Dolphins and whales are self-aware. They know they are seeing themselves in mirrors.

Elephants have been observed trying to waken dead members of their tribe. Elephants will fondle and explore bones that they come across from other elephants. They know the bones are from elephants and they "honor" them, as we do with human bones.

A very few apes have been taught sign language (it takes years). They usually make very simple statements about wants, such as food or toys. Some apes, such as the female gorilla, Koko, have made simple sentences. One ape told of loud noise, pain and terror as its mother was shot by poachers and it was taken captive and later sold. I wish more than anything that we could get a record, from an ape, of ape society. We've only watched from the outside.

"talk to a monkey and ask them about their more ape like characteristics, ask them about there ape ways and what not."

STOP IT!!!!!!!!

APES ARE NOT MONKEYS!!!!!!! MONKEYS ARE NOT APES!!!!!!

Get OVER the stupid, old ways of cramming animals, and people, into easily catagorized bins. There is a vast, complex world out there that cannot be jammed into a few boxes such as "white" and "non-white".

Snap out of your bigotry!!!

[moomooman]

****. sorry about that. i know monkeys arnt apes and apes arnt monkeys i just typed the wrong thing. but what was that bigotry statement about? white, non white? i thought this was about apes?

[LarryOldtimer]

I suppose that if you believe in the theory of evolution they would only be giving the monkeys a boost in evolution so they could catch up with their cousins.

And on the other hand they probably would make great politicians.

742085[/snapback]

Yeah . . . crossing a politician with a monkey gets you a dememted ape. I guess we mostly could hardly tell the difference.

[ROGER]

Good one Larry!