Not wanting to let Arizona get all the glory, the Ohio Senate has passed a bill banning the creation of "human-animal hybrids."

The bill was supported by the Ohio Christian Alliance and threatens violators with up to a year in jail, and a minimum fine of $250,000 if they make a profit.

Politico notes the Arizona state legislature's attempt to ban human-animal hybrids. [Bos'n]

Senate bill 1307, which passed 16-12, prohibits (among other things):

• creating or attempting to create an in vitro human embryo by any means other than fertilization of a human egg by a human sperm.
• creating or attempting to create a human-animal hybrid
• transferring or attempting to transfer a human embryo into a nonhuman womb
• transferring or attempting to transfer a nonhuman embryo into a human womb, and
• transporting or receiving for any purpose a human-animal hybrid

The Melbourne Herald Sun reports development of pig lungs compatible with human blood. Such organs could fill a real need; 200 died last year on waiting lists in Australia alone.

The genetically-modified pigs do not express a certain antigen that causes the blood to clot. Research on such "knock-out" pigs has been going on for over two decades.

There is an ongoing debate about the ethics of creating such "chimeras." Still, replacement of human heart valves with pig valves or cow cardiac tissue is already widespread.

Medgadget.com has an interesting article about animal/human cross-breeding that is quite interesting.
The full article is Here

"The mixing of humans and animals in the name of medicine has been going on for decades. People are walking around with pig valves in their hearts and scientists have routinely injected human cells into lab mice to mimic diseases."

Two years back, I posted a story on Flayrah about the Human-Rabbit experiment run by Chinese scientists.

Last year, I posted information about another article debating the ethical ramifications of blending human and animal genetics.

Well, as it turns out, it's back in the news again. Seems that turning animals into people (unfortunately, scientists won't touch the other direction) is interesting news for furries and non-furries alike.

Here's the full story, this one by National Geographic. The new twist? Mice with human brains. How far is too far?

Trickster

According to New Scientist, cells from pig-human chimeras show unusual cells: cells with DNA that were created by both human and pig parents. These cells are sensitive to both pig and human diseases, and they could be a way for diseases to pass between species.

A bioengineer from New York Medical College is seeking to patent the hybridization of human/animal embryos. Claiming that his own technology is "beyond the boundaries of human morality," he seeks to patent the technique so that it will never be put into use or tested. More here.

The Washington Post reports here that human-animal chimeras have recently been created by Chinese scientists. The embryos have the nuclear DNA of a human, with the mitochondrial DNA of a rabbit. It is unknown if the embryo could survive to term if implanted into a human mother.

"Idaho Gem", born on May 4th, is the first successful clone from the horse family. The apparently healthy foal is also a mule, giving him the distinction as well of being the first ever clone of a hybrid.

The project to create a mule clone was begun by the University of Idaho in 1998, and has taken 307 attempts to get three full pregnancies. Of these, Idaho Gem is the first birth, with his identical brothers due to be born in June and August.

In this article, Flayrah published that scientists want to insert human stem cells into the brains of mice. Scientists at Stanford University today announced that they have already done so. Dr. Irving Weissman of Stanford and Fred Gage of the Salk Institute of La Joya created a mouse with millions of human brain cells.

According to the New York Times, scientists want to create a new kind of mouse-human hybrid by inserting human stem cells into a mouse embryo. The resulting creature would have both human and mouse cells.

A new, simple technique, developed by Mairaluisa Lavitrano at the University of Milan-Bicocca, has improved xenotransplant yields (the number of young with foreign genes) from about 4% to up to 88%. In short, she can regularly and reliably introduce human genes into pigs, who then express the human genes.

Further information about this technology can be found at:

• New Scientist
• MSNBC
• BBC News
• CBS News
• CBC News