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Translational Stem Cell Research pp 193–209Cite as

Chimeras and Hybrids – How to Approach Multifaceted Research?

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Part of the book series: Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine ((STEMCELL))

Abstract

Chimeras and Hybrids – How to Approach a Multifaceted Research?

Since a couple of years now, the creation of chimeras and hybrids has left the realm of myth and legend and entered into the reality of scientific research. The more it advances towards the creation of human-animal mixtures, the more the need for ethical and legal regulation is claimed. In our article, we will clarify different biological definitions concerning mosaics, chimeras and hybrids and contrast them with a new concept for an ethical evaluation of these highly diverse research fields. The proposed concept is illustrated by an example and some fundamental ethical reflections should briefly map the actual debate as well as the needs for further ethical reflection.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    CHIMBRIDS, see http://www.chimbrids.org. J. Taupitz/M. Weschka (eds.), CHIMBRIDS – Chimeras and Hybrids in Comparative European and International Research: Scientific, Ethical, Philosophical and Legal Aspects, Berlin/Heidelberg: Springer 2009.

  2. 2.

    See, e.g., Amanda Onion: Mixing humans and animals for science, ABC news 7.02.2005 http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/Health/story?id = 465202.

  3. 3.

    Legal and moral conflicts arise in more and more cases alongside an increasing tendency to patent biological findings. They cover an amazingly wide field of cases – from singular and collective plaintiffs concerning improper informed consent and misuse of tissue for personal enrichment (see case discussed by Gitter [12]) to violations of native populations genetic autonomy (Tsosie [13]).

  4. 4.

    The debate arose following the publication of Muotri et al. [14].

  5. 5.

    For risks and hurdles of in utero transplantation trials see, e.g., Chen et al. [17]. For work on fetal chimeras, see, e.g., Almeida-Porada et al. [18].

  6. 6.

    Although research in NT-ESC is progressing, and a greater comparability to “normal” ESC has been shown, e.g., in mice (see, e.g., Brambrink et al. [23]), many questions remain open.

  7. 7.

    See, for example, the report of the bioethics council of New Zealand (Toi te taiao [28]).

  8. 8.

    The term pre-embryo applies to human embryos during the first 14 days of development. It is a purely philosophical and political definition. The term is, in this sense, rarely, if ever used in most biological textbooks and original research papers. The philosophical argument refers to the notion of an “undividable individual” as a morally relevant criterion. Biologically, the embryo is regarded as definitely individual after 14 days of development, when the primitive streak has formed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of the History, Theory, and Ethics of Medicine, Ulm University, Frauensteige 6, 89075, Ulm, Germany

    Gisela Badura-Lotter

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  1. Gisela Badura-Lotter
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  2. Marcus Düwell
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. Medical Ethics, University of Lund, 221 84, Lund, Sweden

    Kristina Hug  & Göran Hermerén  & 

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Badura-Lotter, G., Düwell, M. (2011). Chimeras and Hybrids – How to Approach Multifaceted Research?. In: Hug, K., Hermerén, G. (eds) Translational Stem Cell Research. Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine. Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-60761-959-8_16

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