Humans and Pigs and Ethics

I came upon an article recently about the scientific developments toward what is called a chimera, a creature which has some of the attributes of a human and some of another animal, in this instance a pig. No, I'm not writing about world leaders here, but this does sound more like science fiction rather than fact. Actually, H.G. Wells explored this notion more than a hundred years ago in the novel The Island of Dr. Moreau and the outcome wasn't pretty.

The B.B.C. article was revisiting reports in January that significant advances had been made in implanting human cells in pigs. Why would we do this? There are already many thousands of people who have received pig heart valves to prolong their lives. If the genetic match could be even closer there would be tremendous implications for organ transplants. There are more than 4,500 people waiting for organs in Canada alone, and hundreds die while waiting for a donor organ. The growth of healthy human tissues in non-human animals provides a potential clinical alternative to donor organs, but it raises its own host of bioethical concerns.

I blogged once before about this subject and mentioned that fifteen years ago I was asked by the prof in a Dalhousie University course I was auditing on science and religion to speak to the class on the ethics of xenotransplantation, the use of animal organs in humans. I was clueless and it turned out that the United Church had done limited work in this area. But the Roman Catholic's had created a thoughtful position paper that was quite helpful. I hadn't given any prior consideration to whether raising creatures for the benefit of organ harvesting was "against my religion" but it was a worthwhile challenge and I survived the experience.

More and more we are asking whether eating other critters is ethical, because of the way they're raised and because of the effects of a carnivorous diet on the resources of the planet. Creating chimeras solely for our benefit certainly adds another level of complexity to our ethical pondering.

Are you musing about this while enjoying your morning bacon and eggs? Does the subject just make your brain hurt? Should faith groups spend time forming ethical positions on such matters?