Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic

"Help meee! Help meeee!" A small voice from the mousetrap in the corner...

Dr. Moreau, call your office.

In January, an informal ethics committee at Stanford University endorsed a proposal to create mice with brains nearly completely made of human brain cells. Stem cell scientist Irving Weissman said his experiment could provide unparalleled insight into how the human brain develops and how degenerative brain diseases like Parkinson's progress.

Stanford law professor Hank Greely, who chaired the ethics committee, said the board was satisfied that the size and shape of the mouse brain would prevent the human cells from creating any traits of humanity.

Just in case, Greely said, the committee recommended closely monitoring the mice's behavior and immediately killing any that display human-like behavior.


While I really have nothing against research of this kind on principle, that last sentence is one of the creepiest things I've read in a science article in a long time.

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