Doesn't it just shock you that they will even consider doing something like this? It really blows my mind. The ethical implications of mice with human brain cells....it's mind boggling. Excuse me, but don't human cells function as human cells with all the implication for thought and reasoning attached to it? What if one of these creatures developed conscious thought? Are we then still going to do scientific experiments? Aaaah! I can't believe this stuff. Jesus please come quickly and save us from this immorality.

Wendy
---------------------
Through His Merits Alone!!!

The deeper we get into genetic engineering, the less mythological such creatures as minotaurs, centaurs, and satyrs look. If we are living in the days that were like those of the antediluvians, is it not quite probable that they were also practicing genetic engineering? Could it be that the stories that became myths and legends had a root base somewhere in a dim past reality? Is it possible that pre-flood man genetically engineered part man-part animals creatures? Considering how close we are to that reality today, I don't doubt they did.

------------------
For I know that my redeemer liveth,
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
_________________________

Linda

Cloning a human being will be fraught with potential problems if previous animal cloning experiments are any indication. Here is what the scientists are likely to face:

• About 97% of the cloned embryos will spontaneously abort due to genetic or physical abnormalities.


• The placenta will be greatly enlarged as will the umbilical cord leading to a Naval (belly button) about 3 times larger than normal.


• It will have a fatty liver.


• Their size will be abnormally large, perhaps 15 pounds.


• Of those that go to term, most will die shortly after birth due to physical abnormalities of the circulatory system, underdeveloped lungs, diabetes, problems with the immune system.


• A clone may appear normal, but could have physical problems that are unseen.


• Problems aren't limited to the clone. The surrogate mother may have torn abdominal muscles from the size of the fetus. She may swell excessively with fluid. She usually must have a caesarian birth due to fetus size.


• Strange things can happen. A cloned calf developed type 1 (juvenile onset) diabetes which is never seen in cattle.



What scientists don't fully understand and cannot control is something called "gene imprinting." There are no tests to check to see if the imprinting is properly done.


Genes inside sperm and egg cells are turned on or off in preparation for early embryonic and fetal development. Problems arise in clones, it seems, because clones are not made from sperm and eggs, with their properly imprinted DNA. Instead, clones are made from a single adult cell, which is fused with an egg cell whose genes have been removed.

Although the fluids in the egg cell can largely reset the adult cell's thousands of genes to the proper "on" and "off" positions required for embryo development, the process apparently is imperfect. And depending on which genes are not properly reset, various abnormalities arise.


As one scientist pointed out, you can dispose of abnormal animals, but how do you handle an abnormal human? He went on to say, "It's an outrageous criminal enterprise to even attempt."

------------------
For I know that my redeemer liveth,
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
_________________________

Linda

[This message has been edited by Linda Sutton (edited March 07, 2001).]

Here's a related news item I thought you all might find interesting. You may have already heard about it. It was in World magazine before I received it from Focus on the Family's CitizenLink newsletter, on March 16.

Fetal-Cell Experiment Unravels
By Dave Clark, correspondent

SUMMARY: When aborted fetal brain cells were injected into patients' with Parkinson's disease, the side effects were to some, 'tragic and catastrophic.'

Dr. Gregory Curfman, executive editor of the New England Journal of Medicine, described the recent setback in fetal-tissue research using stark scientific language.

"The results do not support the use of this procedure as it was performed in the study," Curfman said.

But Dr. Gene Rudd, of the Christian Medical and Dental Association, was less clinical in his evaluation: "These patients had some devastating-type symptoms of uncontrolled movement of the arms and legs and mouth. Some people had unintelligible speech."

Rudd said the setback is another reason why the controversial research should end now. Neurologist Dr. Randall Bjork agrees.

"I also have a problem sacrificing or creating a market, so to speak, for . . . this kind of research," Bjork said. "These were young lives that were sacrificed for people who have disease of late adulthood."

Researchers say the fetal-tissue injections failed to yield any meaningful benefit for Parkinson's patients, but manifested horrific side effects. Further, researchers
advised six patients enrolled for the surgery to forgo it. Rudd praised that decision.

"I remember the apostle Paul's admonition that we never should do evil so that we can get a good outcome," Rudd said. "I think that's what we're doing with these types of studies, which is based on using aborted tissue."

However, the New England Journal of Medicine indicates the final chapter on the issue is yet to be written.

------------------
The Lord is the strength of my life and my portion forever.

[This message has been edited by Cathy Sears (edited March 30, 2001).]

People are running into God's boundaries now. They've played God too long and it's all about to end.

Wendy

I don't have the information in front of me, but the researchers and government have been less than honest about the effects of gene therapies. A number of people have died rather than being helped. While they talk about how wonderful it will be to use gene therapy to cure congenital problems and chronic diseases, the reality is, such therapies are not yet viable.

Did you ever notice that the bible says knowledgewould increase, not wisdom?

Here we ahve the evidence of that.

You've sure got that right, Gerry!

------------------
The Lord is the strength of my life and my portion forever.

More to add to the cloning-genetically modified information.

In April, the company that cloned Dolly the sheep announced that they had cloned genetically altered pigs at a facility in Virginia. The pigs are a step toward porducing body organs that are compatible with humans.

The pigs were modified with a florescent protein from jellyfish.

The eventual goal of the work -- most of which is being carried out in Blacksburg by PPL's U.S. subsidiary, PPL Therapeutics Inc. -- is to produce pigs whose organs would be less likely to be rejected by the human immune system after transplantation.

The field is known as xenotransplantation, and it has become the focus of considerable controversy. Some groups have criticized the idea of transplanting pig organs into people, fearing this will allow viruses to cross the species barrier and perhaps unleash an epidemic among humans. But many scientists say the work should be pursued, cautiously, for its potential to relieve human suffering. PPL has received federal grants to support its work.

And now from pigs to humans.

The London Times reports that there have been some 15 genetically altered babies born in the USA possessing genes from three different humans.

The children were born following a technique called ooplasmic transfer. This involves taking some of the contents of the donor cell and injecting it into the egg cell of a woman with infertility problems.

The researchers, at the Institute for Reproductive Medicine and Science of St Barnabas in New Jersey, US, believed that some women were infertile because of defects in their mitochondria. . . .

Having just tested the children born as a result of this procedure, the scientists have confirmed that the children's cells contain mitochondria, and hence genes, from two women as well as their fathers.

Writing in the journal Human Reproduction, the researchers say that this "is the first case of human germline genetic modification resulting in normal healthy children".

------------------
For I know that my redeemer liveth,
and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth.
_________________________

Linda