OH Senate Passes Bill Banning Human-Animal Hybrids

An anonymous reader writes "The sci-fi movie Splice seems to have scared the Ohio's State Senator Steve Buehrer. The Ohio Senate has passed Sen. Buehrer's bill banning 'the creation, transportation, or receipt of a human-animal hybrid, the transfer of a nonhuman embryo into a human womb, and the transfer of a human embryo into a nonhuman womb.' So much for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles."

Comments

Laws against science-fiction are stupid.

[uncoveror]

While they are at it, why not ban cloaking devices and disruptors.

Re:Laws against science-fiction are stupid.

[2obvious4u]

Too bad its not science fiction. I personally know a group of scientists that create rabbit human embryos. Also there has been a lot of research in growing human organs in pigs". So we are already producing animal-human hybrids. Hell we even grow human ears on mice.

Re:Laws against science-fiction are stupid.

[gestalt_n_pepper]

That just makes me hopping mad!

Re:Laws against science-fiction are stupid.

[d3ac0n]

Forget the Rabit-human hybrids. What about the Catgirls?

NOOOOOOO!

;)

(Sorry I just couldn't help myself)

Re:Laws against science-fiction are stupid.

[timeOday]

I guess it just goes to show how quickly a field is progressing when 2/3 of the comments on a slashdot story ignorantly assume it's still science fiction and couldn't possibly require legislation. However, I hope this is defined very carefully not to preclude important medical research. Growing a human ear on a mouse, for example, might seem like a gross waste of time, but perhaps not if you're a soldier whose soft tissue was burned off by an IED. (That image is from way back in 1997 BTW).

Re:Laws against science-fiction are stupid.

[ElectricTurtle]

It's not up to you? You don't live in a democracy? You don't vote?

It is incredibly important to establish whether something is wrong before you start banning it, otherwise you'll be on a bullet train to tyranny.

If you are being truthful when you say you're 'not in a position intellectually to say what is or is not best for society' please stop voting immediately if you haven't already. We have enough people who don't know anything about history or anything about ethics changing the course of political events based on knee-jerk ideology at best and their opinion of who is more visually attractive at worst that we don't need people who could otherwise self-select themselves out adding to the problem.

I had a history professor of whom I was quite fond say once that he hated democracy because he knew that his well-informed, well-reasoned choice could be blotted out in a second by the near-random opinion of his cretinous neighbor. The older I get and the more I read the more inclined I am to agree.

Re:Laws against science-fiction are stupid.

[StikyPad]

Catgirls: because putting up with the cattiness of real girls just isn't enough, we added allergies to the mix.

Worst. Idea. Ever.

Re:Laws against science-fiction are stupid.

[DinDaddy]

Should we have all laws passed by multiple Ph.D holders in selected fields who have little to no sense of humanity, only cold logic and rationale?

Yes, scientists and other well educated people are inhumane, coldly logical killing machines. Mark well your fear. We are coming for you.

transplants?

[Scribbler'sEmporium]

No pig heart valves for you then when your own stops working.

Re:transplants?

[Anonymous Coward]

From TFB:

        (1) "Human-animal hybrid" means any of the following:

        (a) A human embryo into which a nonhuman cell or a component of a nonhuman cell is introduced so that it is uncertain whether the human embryo is a member of the species homo sapiens;

        (b) A hybrid human-animal embryo produced by fertilizing a human egg with a nonhuman sperm;

        (c) A hybrid human-animal embryo produced by fertilizing a nonhuman egg with a human sperm;

        (d) An embryo produced by introducing a nonhuman nucleus into a human egg;

        (e) An embryo produced by introducing a human nucleus into a nonhuman egg;

        (f) An embryo containing at least haploid sets of chromosomes from both a human and a nonhuman life form;

        (g) A nonhuman life form engineered with the intention of generating functional human gametes within the body of a nonhuman life form;

        (h) A nonhuman life form engineered such that it contains a human brain or a brain derived wholly from human neural tissues.

A human with a pig heart valve would not meet any of those qualifications.

Re:Here comes the boycott

[Pojut]

Anyone know why you screw a sheep on the edge of a cliff?

Makes the sheep push back harder.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles?

[kalirion]

So much for Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

The ninja turtles were mutants, not hybrids!

not so simple...

[martyb]

Sounds pretty simple at first; but what about transplants?

For example, would this ban using a pig's heart valve from being transplanted into a person?  I had a family member who had this done!

Where do you draw the line? A whole heart?  A heart AND a liver AND a lung?

Who decides where the line is?  And what's to keep the line from moving?  And do we even want to keep it from moving?

I can think of arguments for all of these.

Re:Ban Sci-Fi

[jgagnon]

What prevents a gene-splicer from creating, transporting, or receiving a human-animal hybrid in neighboring Michigan?

Nothing... but figuring out which are hybrids and which are "normal Michigan residents" could be a problem... ;)

One question

[$RANDOMLUSER]

...prohibits...the transfer of a nonhuman embryo into a human womb...

Does this include baby Jesus?



just askin'

humatoes

[cluemore]

... leaving the door wide open for human-vegetable hybrids.

the law seems to forbid human hybrids with other mammals. That leaves a huge area of potential nobel prize research for human hybrids with funguses, reptiles, invertebrates (bugs, jellyfish, worms) and plants, without even having to put out the call through seti for extraterrestrial volunteers.

this cups not half empty, it's half full!

Re:Here comes the boycott

[d3ac0n]

A traveling salesman was driving along a country road.
As he passed a sheep farm he saw a man out in the field with his trousers down having sex with one of the sheep.
Shocked, he pulled into the farm driveway, walked up to the farmhouse and knocked on the door.
A beautiful young woman answered the and asked if she could help him.
The salesman told the young lady "I don't mean to shock you, but there is a man out in your field doing inappropriate things to your sheep!"
The young lady sighed, rolled her very large brown eyes and said;
"Oh, that's just D-a-a-a-a-a-a-ddy." :)

They're not the only ones

[greenreaper]

Arizona is working on it as well - the bill is supported by the Bioethics Defense Fund, the Arizona Catholic Conference, and members of the 40 Days for Life Campaign.