National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD

The National Institutes of Health (NIH), a federally-funded medical research agency, is soliciting comments from the public through the end of today on whether or not to allow taxpayer funding for research that involves the creation of human-animal chimeras.

Human Life Action is reporting on the institute’s plans to lift its moratorium on funding research that involves injecting human embryonic stem cells into animal embryos thus creating part-human and part-animal organisms known as chimeras.

“This means that, for the first time, the federal government will begin spending taxpayer dollars on the creation and manipulation of new beings whose very existence blurs the line between humans and non-human animals,” HLA reports.

“This research is ethically problematic for several reasons: 1) It relies on the killing of humans at the embryonic stage to harvest their stem cells; 2) It involves the production of animals that could have partly or substantially human brains; 3) It involves the production of animals that could have human sperm or eggs (with a stipulation that precautions are taken so such animals are not allowed to breed); 4) It allows the introduction of human embryonic stem cells into animal embryos early in their development such that it may be very difficult to know the extent to which human cells contribute to the final organism.”

Consequently, researchers won’t know what their moral obligations may be toward that being, something that the NIH has given very little thought to.

HLA is providing easy access to the proper NIH form along with complete instructions on how to fill out the form and submit it.

All submissions must be made by midnight tonight.

Hurry! Time is running out!

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