Heidi emailed me two articles today that she knew would irritate me to no end.??

Article Number 1 – Embryos Created with the DNA of 3 people

Overview:?? Researchers, using eggs from two women and sperm from one man, created embryos.?? Their intent was gene replacement.?? Find the bad genes and replace with good ones.?? According to these researchers, the resulting embryo is not a result of three people because only TRACE amounts of genetic contribution came from the third party.??

Quote:

The process aims to create healthy embryos for couples to avoid passing on genes carrying diseases.

The genes being replaced are the mitochondria, a cell’s energy source, which are contained outside the nucleus in a normal female egg. Mistakes in the mitochondria’s genetic code can result in serious diseases like muscular dystrophy, epilepsy, strokes and mental retardation.

In their research, Chinnery and colleagues used normal embryos created from one man and one woman that had defective mitochondria in the woman’s egg. They then transplanted that embryo into an emptied egg donated from a second woman who had healthy mitochondria.I

Ignoring the whole three parent issue for a moment, I am left wondering how we avoid “Gattica”??? When we begin genetic re-engineering, where would it end??? Hollywood gets something right once in awhile and I think the issues addressed in Gattica were very “johnny on the spot”.?? Talk about class division!?? If IVF processes were used regularly to create “better” human outcomes…imagine the discrimination that would follow??? The movie portrays a division between those “natural” born and those genetically altered.?? Over time, anyone not genetically perfect, is discriminated against on every level.?? Even those who sustain injury in adulthood are discriminated against because the new cultural standard is driven towards perfection and imperfection is an “embarrassment”.?? Slippery slope towards losing our humanity.

It all sounds well and good when, as Dr. Laura would say, “people are being vigilante guardians of the smaller picture”.????

And then there is this issue:

Quote:?? So far, 10 such embryos have been created, though they have not been allowed to develop for more than five days.

Not even going to GO THERE today.

??

Article Number 2 – ??Britain allows creation of human-animal embryos

Yes you read that correctly.?? I have been disgusted with this for a long time now – it is really nothing all that new.?? In 2002, when we testified with Tanner in Wisconsin this research was mentioned.?? It was also mentioned at that time that some Asian country (I forget which right now) was trying to use pigs to carry human embryos.

Article Overview:?? Researchers want to create hybrids that are 99.9 percent human and .1 percent animal for the purpose of creating stem cell lines without having to use human eggs.

Quote:??

“Finding better ways to make human embryonic stem cells is the long term objective of our work and understanding reprogramming is central to this,” said Armstrong, who helped to create the world’s first cloned human embryo in 2005.

“Cow eggs seem to be every bit as good at doing this job as human eggs so it makes sense to use them since they are much more readily available.”

The research involves transferring nuclei containing DNA from human cells to animal eggs that have had nearly all their genetic information removed.

Interesting.?? The above avoids the moral dilemma of exploiting women to get their eggs and introduces a whole new issue of using emptied animal eggs.?? Did you notice in the last line these words “NEARLY ALL their genetic information removed”??? The intent at this point is not to end up with animal/human hybrids walking around but to save researchers the trouble of having to collect human eggs (which is not an easy process – I know – I have been through that one).??

Imagine all the “what if’s” here though??? It never ends.?? This creates questions way too big for me to answer and I find the whole thing outrageously horrifying.?? I watched Island of Dr. Moreau!!!?? :)?? Would God even allow an animal/human hybrid to survive to term??? I honestly don’t know the answer to that.?? I think back to the book of Genesis and conversations that I have had about the Nephilim.?? Some theologians believe that the Nephilim were men – evil men.?? Some believe that scripture states them to be a fallen angel/human hybrid.?? Those in the latter camp often add that the rampant sin that followed was what gave way to the great flood.?? I don’t know the scriptural answer on this one.?? Were they or weren’t they??? My dad would say they weren’t.?? My mom would say “I think maybe they were”.???? This may seem unrelated but I ask the question only pondering what God will or will not allow and at what cost or consequence???

Last year the country’s hot topic was the humanity of human embryos. ??What do we do with this??? Do we now discuss what percentage of genetic material is HUMAN before determining human rights??? Truly disastrous for our moral integrity or lack thereof.?? Enough already.?? Jesus come quickly.