0 Comments
The chimera is a creature made of the parts of other animals (the lion, goat, and serpent). It is imaginary, yet deeply rooted in the symbolism of western thought and literature. Now it is a little less fictional.
CRISPR-Cas9 has been revolutionary, making gene editing, a process which is exactly as complex and difficult as it sounds, relatively simple. Some scientists want to use it make human organs inside of pigs. A steady supply of organs would save millions of lives. How they'd do it:
It is that last step that has people concerned. As of now, there doesn't seem to be complete control over exactly which organs develop. It could be a kidney. Or, it could be a brain; a human brain in a pigs body. "If you have pigs with partly human brains you would have animals that might actually have consciousness like a human," Newman says. "It might have human-type needs. We don't really know." -Pablo Ross of the University of California
A quick primer on CRISPR-Cas9
I couldn't resist.Speculative Fact #308: Yes, Let's Give Rich People Another Reason to do Something Horrible5/19/2016 "As described in the Nature Medicine paper, Villeda and his colleagues physically connected the circulatory systems of old mice to young mice via surgery that stitched their abdominal cavities together. " -Jennifer Frazier, National Geographic Now imagine that with people. The fountain of youth spouts blood.
“Seeing the 3-D print of a human being left us all speechless,” Kassewitz said. “For the first time ever, we may be holding in our hands a glimpse into what cetaceans see with sound. Nearly every experiment is bringing us more images with more detail.” -Dr. Reid Once they build up a lexicon, the researchers could be our first inter-species ambassadors. Given ten years or so of language contact, how do you think that would change our relationship with dolphins? What other organisms might we communicate with in this way, real or imagined?
-Rob Cameron |
The Speculative Facts The purpose of this page is to inspire and inform writers. Come to find that spark from the Picture Prompt of the Month, the Speculative Facts, our latest Pinterest Pins and the News Feed. Come to BSFW meetings to take your story through its paces and on to publication.
Speculative Fact contributions are researched and written by Jonathan Hernandez and Rob Cameron
The Muse TweetsPinterest Picture Prompt |