Creating Monsters: Transgenic Organisms

Earth Talk: Creating Monsters:

Transgenic Organisms

In the last issue of the Rising FireFly, we discussed genetic engineering. Developments in genetic engineering and its applications are being quickly developed, and those people who use the modern medical system will be quite surprised to learn how close this technology is to their own lives. 

Countless experiments are being performed and trials are underway. Those who support genetic engineering see it as an invaluable tool for the advancement of science and, ultimately, conquering death. The average person, however, while having an opinion on the issue, remains sheltered from the realities of cloning and its practical application in the science of today.

CHIMERAS

We've all heard of Stuart Little - whether it is by reading the book by E.B. White in school or by watching the Hollywood movie with our children - the cute white mouse who thinks and acts human. Or perhaps Ralph S. Mouse (a book series by Beverly Cleary) may be more familiar - the not-so-typical house pest who befriends a little boy and has adventures riding a motorcycle, essentially mimicking the world of human beings. A mouse acting like a human being, thinking like a human being, evolving like a human being - this is surely fiction, right?

Recently, a Stanford University researcher has received permission to create a mouse with human brain cells. Led by Professor Irving Weissman, who heads the university's Institute of Cancer/Stem Cell Biology, researchers have already been successful in creating mice with brains with up to 1% human brain cells; they now plan to use human stem cells from aborted fetuses to create a mouse with a brain that is 100% human. Their hope is that these mice will help them understand diseases like Alzheimer's and Parkinson's the debilitating disease from which actor Michael J. Fox who, ironically, did the voice-overs for Stuart in the latest Stuart Little movies and who sponsors stem-cell research at Stanford, suffers), among others.

Animals that are created using parts from different species are known as chimeras, named after a Greek monster that was part lion, part goat, and part serpent. There is currently no regulation of the creation of chimeras by the federal government.

Professor Weissman admits that there is no way of knowing whether the mice with human brain cells would develop human characteristics or tendencies until after they were born. Other studies, however, can give us an idea of what could happen. Researchers from Northwestern University School of Medicine in Chicago created genetically engineered mice by modifying a gene-encoding protein called beta-catenin, which regulates cell division in many tissues and is active in the cerebral cortex of the brain. The created mice had brains that were two to three times as big as a normal mouse, with an extremely large cerebral cortex (the region responsible for making sense of information). If altering just one gene can have a dramatic effect on the brain, what should we expect from a mouse with a brain composed entirely of human cells?!

But Weissman does not stop here. His future plans include transplanting human brain cells into mice with a disease that causes their brains to die before birth. He hopes that the human brain cells, once transplanted, will replace the natural mouse brain. 

If this news makes the reader uneasy, they have reason to feel anxious. The human brain is extremely complex, and modern science has not even scratched the surface of its knowledge of its functions. What will be the material consequences and realities of creating mice with human brains? What will be the spiritual ramifications for such a monster?

Scientists have not stopped at mice. Jason Chamberlain from the University of Nevada-Reno has injected human stem cells into the brains of sheep fetuses. More alarmingly, stem cells have been injected into monkey brains since 2001! Monkeys are reported by scientists and evolutionists to be our closest relatives. According to scientists from the Wayne State University School of Medicine in Detroit, chimpanzee DNA is 99.4% the same as ours. Gorillas come next, followed by orangutans and Old World monkeys. These scientists see chimpanzees as being so close to us that they propose moving chimps and other very closely related apes into the classification genus Homo, which is currently only occupied by human beings! Scientists admit that they don't really know what separates us from our closest relatives on Earth morally, and certainly not spiritually.

ADDITIONAL DEVELOPMENTS

USING GM TECHNOLOGY

Cancer-Fighting Eggs - The same scientists who cloned Dolly the sheep (the Roslin Institute in Scotland) have created a transgenic chicken that lays eggs with anti-cancer antibodies in the whites of their eggs. Viragen, a US company, has partnered with the Roslin Institute and Oxford BioMedica of the UK, and the companies hope to use this genetically modified creature to produce human-like antibodies that can be used in pharmaceuticals.

Human Breast Milk From Cows - Human genes that a woman uses to produce breast milk have been inserted into cow embryos. A senior executive of PPL Therapeutics revealed that the company was entertaining partnership deals with three major infant formula companies using this technology, utilizing the milk from these genetically engineered cows. Due to the introduction of human genes, these cows produce milk containing human alpha-lactalbumin, a protein that is a major ingredient in human breast milk. Furthermore, Mr. Ayares, vice president of R&D in Virginia, said the ultimate goal was to create a cow that would produce milk that was almost the same as human breast milk. Cows have also been created that produce albumin and collagen (human proteins) in their milk; the substances are then extracted from the milk and used in drugs for burns, tissue repair, and rheumatoid arthritis. Genzyme Transgenics is working on cows that produce human albumin and glutamic acid decarboxylase (GAD), a protein that could be used to treat the effects of diabetes.

Pigs Produce Hemoglobin - A New Jersey biotechnology company has created transgenic pigs that produce human hemoglobin. It is now common practice for blood proteins needed by hemophiliacs to be produced in transgenic pigs, sheep, and cows.

And Still More - Rabbits have been made to produce calcitonin, a human hormone that aids with calcium absorption. Goats are being produced to secrete milk with a protein that could help fight malaria. Pigs grow "human" livers, and so do sheep. Human genes are put into pigs to make their hearts more compliant to human beings. The examples of human genes in animals are endless, and one can only imagine what experiments are being done secretly.

PLANTS

More cities across the USA are going smoke-free no smoking in public buildings and areas. This, of course, only heightens the tobacco industry's struggle to recruit and maintain users of their deadly products. The tobacco industry needs a new outlet for their precious product, and they may have found their answer by transferring genes from toxin-eating bacteria into tobacco plants (which now become transgenic plants as they contain genes from two different organisms). These plants have been shown to grow faster in toxic areas than normal plants do. They also break down toxins much faster than normal plants.

This technology has been proposed to the US military, who use explosives TNT and RDX to fire shells and bombs. Residual TNT and RDX enter the soil and groundwater, which requires the removal of such substances (traditionally done by digging up contaminated soil and burning it, costing hundreds of millions of dollars a year in cleanup costs. Planting the newly created tobacco plant would, theoretically, clean up the soil while saving the military huge amounts of money (and would save the tobacco companies' profit margins).

While cleaning up the environment sounds wonderful, this technology is not without its complications. The new plant is one that was not created by nature and one that has genes from bacteria inside its core. It is impossible to know what effects these types of plants will have on the environment and ecosystem. Cross-pollination is not only possible, but probable, and this reality can create an entirely new ecosystem, endangering our lives and the lives of other plants and animals.

Potatoes - Potatoes have been engineered to contain antibodies against the toxin that makes E. coli problematic. Essentially, these potatoes are considered to be a vaccine against E. coli, and they have already undergone human trials. 73% of those volunteers eating the transgenic potato developed antibodies against E. coli. Potatoes have also been engineered against Cholera. Hepatitis B has also been inserted into the potato, and studies show that 60% of volunteers who ate a bite-sized piece of the transgenic potato showed immunity against the disease.

Tomatoes - Vegetarians beware: tomatoes may contain animal genes! Worm and human genes are now being inserted into tomato plants to help ward off disease. Trials are underway. American researchers have managed to grow a SARS vaccine in genetically engineered tomatoes, reporting that mice fed the tomatoes developed antibodies to the coronavirus that killed nearly 800 people in 2003. While vaccine-producing tomatoes or other plants are not available yet, and probably will not be for quite some time, we must not dismiss the seriousness of the scientific meddling.

Human Genes in Rice - Scientists have inserted human genes into rice! A gene from the human liver that produces the enzyme CPYP2B6 (which helps break down harmful chemicals in the human body), has been added to rice plants in an attempt to increase the resistance of rice plants to herbicides and pollutants. Should this rice come to market, this human gene will be present in every cell of every piece of rice that is consumed. In 2002, Greenpeace disclosed a site in Northern California where rice plants were being grown that had been modified with the human genes lactoferrin (regulates immune functions) and lysozyme. Washington State University field-tested barley altered with human genes for lactoferrin, lysozyme, antitrypsin, and antithrombin. France has tested corn modified with human lactoferrin.

New research is being conducted constantly, and modern scientists have no qualms about inserting human genes and cells into animals or plants. In fact, they see these developments as medically necessary and economically needed - they will save lives, feed the hungry, and keep people healthy.

The biotechnology companies and researchers seem to have an explanation and argument for every concern or issue that arises about the safety of their work. While they admit further testing is needed, they are constantly reciting reasons why this type of meddling with nature is necessary. Canada's National Institute of Nutrition went as far as to say that "There really is no such thing as 'animal gene' or a 'plant gene'. In fact, humans have many genes common with other animals, plants, and even bacteria." If this is the case, why is it necessary to extract human genes when a plant gene of the same kind exists? Their arguments are flawed, and they know it. 

One must be constantly vigilant if one wants to be informed about what is happening in our world. The examples given in this article represent only a small fraction of the research being done that involves mixing species and human material. How far will we allow this destruction to go?