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| CHIMERAS: ANIMAL-HUMAN HYBRIDS | |
 August 2005 
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Researchers are implanting human cells in animals in order to make more human-like models for medical research, prompting heated ethics debates inside and outside of the scientific community. A scientist and an ethicist answer your questions about this so-called "chimeric" research. Special Report: Chimeras: Animal-Human Hybrids
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Donald M. Switz, M.D. of Richmond, Va. asks: What happened with [the President's Council on Bioethics] convened two years ago headed by Leon Kass? Any report? Germane to this? Dr. Richard Hynes responds: They published several reports on various topics. I do not know whether or not any of those reports addressed the issue of chimeras in any detail. Dr. Jonathan Moreno responds: The President's Council is now four years old. It has produced a number of reports (www.bioethics.gov), and continues to meet. The Council has been deeply divided on the embryonic stem cell issue and I will let their statements speak for themselves.
Joseph E. Kastelic of Akron, Ohio asks: Is there evidence that chimeras occurs naturally in pregnancy? Are the ethicists involved paid for consultation, and by whom? Dr. Richard Hynes responds: There is some evidence that chimerism does happen in human pregnancies -- so that some of the mother's cells can be present within her children -- who are therefore chimeras. It is also possible between twins carried in the same womb. Dr. Jonathan Moreno responds: Many people are in fact chimeras because they are the results of embryos that separated and would have become twins but for some unknown reason fused again. This does not seem to have any effect on their health and unless there's some reason to look for the other cells it would never be discovered.
As professors and hospital staff bioethicists are paid salaries by their institutions and as part of their duties they provide help on clinical and research ethics issues. Some bioethicists have consulted for private industry though their numbers seem to be very small and generally the field has not encouraged these relationships. The bioethicists who are members of National Academies committees are volunteers. (Full disclosure: I am salaried by the University of Virginia and help with internal ethics issues. I was a paid consultant for a genomics company for two years; this company collected and stored genetic materials and tissues and did not do human embryonic stem cell research. I am also a member of the Bioethics Advisory Committee of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute for which I receive a stipend. I am an unpaid volunteer for several National Academies committees.)
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