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Human-Mouse Hybrids?

scientistguy writes "There is a remarkable story by Nicholas Wade in the early morning edition of the New York Times about a discussion to create human-mouse hybrid organisms. One of these techniques involves the introduction of genetically altered mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells (e.g. with genes 'knocked-out' or replaced) into a developing mouse blactocyst to create progeny hybrid organisms. Typically, these progeny organisms are then bred to unaltered mice to see if the genetic alteration has gone germline or is heritable. If heritable, mice can be bred and animals which are homozygous for the altered gene can be phenotypically examined as long as the manipulation is not homozygous lethal or cause sterility in a single copy state. Unless using blastocysts from immunologically crippled mice, there would most likely be a recognition of non-self by murine immune cells not educated (which haven't seen during their development) to the human cells that would wipe them out. Nonetheless, it's amazing that it's being contemplated due to the ethical implications of such an experiment. What if it were viable? What if there were more than just a few human cells? Could it be sacrificed? ... or even experimented on further if part 'human'? Perhaps these types of experiments are best relegated to little known, deserted islands far away from the reaches of civilization (or perhaps regulation) ..."

31 of 409 comments (clear)

  1. Where...? by MrFenty · · Score: 5, Funny
    Perhaps these types of experiments are best relegated to little known, deserted islands far away from the reaches of civilization (or perhaps regulation)

    What - like Australia ?

  2. Sounds like a good movie by OscarMyers · · Score: 2, Funny

    I can just see it now, what actor should be in this movie, perhaps it's all a coverup for a movie anyway, There will be just one man who can stop this army of 100,000 half human half mice (It will start out as 2, in a week, they will have multiplied)

  3. wow by mrselfdestrukt · · Score: 3, Funny

    Another new input device.
    Why not just stick my mouse to my hand with superglue?

    --
    "I used to have that really cool,funny sig ,but it got stolen."
  4. What are we going to do tonight Brain? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    What we do every night, Pinky.

    1. Re:What are we going to do tonight Brain? by wowbagger · · Score: 2, Funny
      Please get the quote right:

      Pinky: Wot are we going to do tonigh, Brain?
      Brain: The same thing we do every night, Pinky: TRY TO TAKE OVER THE WORLD


      (and that is, of course, Brain's problem. Had he listened to another animated short fellow with a big head, he would know: "Do. Or Do Not. There Is No Try.")
  5. A homozygous single copy murine immune mouse. by elrond1999 · · Score: 1, Funny
    If heritable, mice can be bred and animals which are homozygous for the altered gene can be phenotypically examined as long as the manipulation is not homozygous lethal or cause sterility in a single copy state. Unless using blastocysts from immunologically crippled mice, there would most likely be a recognition of non-self by murine immune cells not educated (which haven't seen during their development) to the human cells that would wipe them out.


    And now once more in English please?
  6. IN SOVIET RUSSIA... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny
    human-mice make hybrids out of scientists!!

    President Vladimir Putin agreed Tuesday to reinstate the Soviet-era red star as the Russian military's official emblem -- in the latest reincarnation of Communist symbols that has sparked fears of a return to the repressive past.

  7. Woo Hoo! by LordYUK · · Score: 2, Funny

    Lets hear it for blastocysts!!

    --
    This is my sig. Its pathetic.
  8. Anthropomorphic mice? by ParnBR · · Score: 1, Funny

    Not another Stuart Little, please. :(

    --
    My neighbor's .sig is better than mine.
  9. Ehhhhhh by Uruk · · Score: 5, Funny

    blactocyst to create progeny hybrid organisms

    Good god! Don't you understand the implications though? If the digital tri-mode defrobulator gets out of sync with the anticalisthenticator, we could have some serious subdermal anamolous activity!

    Open your eyes man!

    (I just thought the sentence sounded funny the way it was strung together, even if I do have enough biology to know what a blastocyst is and to recognize when it's misspelled)

    --
    -- Truth goes out the door when rumor comes innuendo. -- Groucho Marx
  10. Are you a man or a mouse ? by MosesJones · · Score: 5, Funny


    Oh very freaking funny you insensitive clod!

    --
    An Eye for an Eye will make the whole world blind - Gandhi
  11. Have a heart by Comrade+Pikachu · · Score: 3, Funny

    The next time you visit Disney World, don't pick on the guy in the costume. See what he has to endure?

  12. Mental images by antoinjapan · · Score: 2, Funny

    When I read the headline I imagined someones arm tapering off into a abomination of electronics for the sole purpose of manipulation GUIs.

  13. So potentially, by sawilson · · Score: 5, Funny

    If this research continues, it might only take
    1000 genetically altered monkees 10 years to create
    the collective works of shakespeare. You probably
    wouldn't have to lock them in a room either. They'd
    of course be superior and have 3 asses.

  14. Behold! by Eidolon909 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Mephisto: Look at my lastest creation.. a 5-assed Mouse!

    Kids: So?

    Mephisto: Those are HUMAN asses!

    Kids: Ooooh!

  15. The Secret of NIMH by randomErr · · Score: 3, Funny

    Don Bluth is so pround now.

    --
    You say things that offend me and I can deal with it. Can you?
  16. Can't resist... by TeknoHog · · Score: 5, Funny

    This Human-Mouse hybrid sounds like a great advance in the computer interface design. At least it would remove one bottleneck. Soon we'll outquake even Dustpuppy (he uses a separate mouse).

    --
    Escher was the first MC and Giger invented the HR department.
  17. Fritz Hollings? by stardeep · · Score: 2, Funny

    Isn't that how they made Fritz Hollings? By crossing a politician with Mickey Mouse?

    --
    Sentimentality is merely the Bank Holiday of cynicism.
    - Oscar Wilde
  18. babelfish by nmg196 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I don't understand. Is there an English copy?

    I shoved that into babelfish but it didn't come up with anything - no matter what language I selected...

  19. Still unreleased ... by supergiovane · · Score: 2, Funny
    ... and already supported by Linux kernel!
    Just compile Human Interface Device support as a module.

    --
    Signatures are for stupids.
  20. Ahh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    the power of cheese.
    those commercials would be alot better with talking mice.
    I say go for it, we always need more commercials.

  21. Re:I'm horrified... by sawilson · · Score: 4, Funny

    I consider myself open to scientific experimentation

    That's pretty brave. I'm just an organ donor myself.

  22. Re:I'm horrified... (sperm/egg combo in a mouse?) by jx100 · · Score: 2, Funny

    somehow I'm reminded of that scene in FOTR when Gandalf goes inside that hobbit hole...

  23. Re:I'm horrified... by csguy314 · · Score: 3, Funny

    One telling comment though:

    He gave as an extreme example the possibility that a mouse making human sperm might accidentally be allowed to mate with a mouse that had made its eggs from human cells.


    Hey baby, I'd like you to my parents, Squeeky and Whiskers.

    --
    This is left as an exercise for the reader.
  24. Re:The reference... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Actually, that's just the movie book for this film.

  25. You know what this means don't you? by trcooper · · Score: 4, Funny

    They're creating an army of Mouse-men to take over the world. An army of millions that will scurry out of rural corn fields and take over America.

    Fortunately I am almost finished designing a giant trap that will prey on the one weakness they neglected to genetically correct, Sweet, sweet, cheese.

  26. Did They already have that??? by mt2mb4me · · Score: 2, Funny

    I sawan episode of thundar the barbarian, they were called the goundlings. half man-half mice

  27. Coming soon.... by sawilson · · Score: 3, Funny

    This page was generated by a barrel of Human-Mouse Hybrids for sawilson.

  28. Solution for hordes of mouse-men by Ablar · · Score: 2, Funny

    Come on now, everybody say it...

    To take care of the human-mouse hybrids, they'll need to create some catgirls!

    Everyone loves nekojin. ^_^

  29. So how...? by KC7GR · · Score: 3, Funny

    ...do you left-click with one of these hybrids? Heck, are they two or three-button? PS/2 compatible, or just USB?

    For that matter, do they have balls or are they purely optical?

    (There go my karma points...)

    --

    Bruce Lane, KC7GR,

    Blue Feather Technologies

  30. why mice?! by Loie · · Score: 2, Funny

    what ever happened to wolves and panthers and bears and falcons and sharks? you know, all the COOL animals? why would anyone ever want to be weremouse?