Suggested Discussion Outline - Apr 9th

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johnkarls
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Joined: Fri Jun 29, 2007 8:43 pm

Suggested Discussion Outline - Apr 9th

Post by johnkarls »

CLONE RIGHTS: INVOLUNTARY SOLDIERS, SEX SLAVES, HUMAN "LAB RATS" ETC.

A. Current "State of the Art"

A-1. Creating 100%-human-DNA animals from stem cells generated from skin cells.

A-2. Yale U's 25%/50%/75%/etc. human-DNA chimpanzees.

A-3. Newcastle U's 99.9% human-DNA cow embryos.

B. Legality of A-1 and A-2 for use as involuntary soldiers, sex slaves, human "lab rats" etc.

B-1. Creating 100%-human-DNA animals created from stem cells generated from skin cells for such purposes is probably legal outside Greece, Spain, Portugal, the U.K., Australia and a handful of states in the U.S.

B-2. Creating 25%/50%/75%/etc. human-DNA animals for such purposes is almost certainly legal outside the U.K.

C. Should 100%-human-DNA animals created from stem cells generated from skin cells have any constitutional/legal rights???

C-1. Should it make a difference whether the 100%-human-DNA animal is developed in the womb of a woman or an animal - or whether it can be developed to the stage of independent viability in a controlled laboratory environment???

C-2. What special safeguards will be needed due to the fact that there will probably be no friends or relatives to complain to the news media that such a 100%-human-DNA animal has been used as a "lab rat" etc???

D. Keeping in mind Hitler’s legal classifications that depended on % of Jewish blood and the American “Old South” legal classifications that depended on % of African-American blood, what should be the dividing line between which organisms are viewed as “human” and therefore deserving of constitutional/legal rights, and which organisms are viewed as “animal” and therefore deserving of only attention of the ASPCA (assuming medical research does not trump any animal rights).

D-1. Example 1 = An organism’s DNA is only 50% of the way from chimp to human, but 100% of its dominant traits are human and 100% of its recessive traits are chimp.

D-2. Example 2 = An organism’s DNA from the ankles up is 100% human, but it has chimp feet that are capable of grasping tree branches. What if this organism has its feet amputated and replaced by human-feet prosthetics???

D-3. Should “humanness” depend solely on the capability of the organism’s brain and, if so, what should be the threshold capability/capabilities for human status???

D-4. Should a single organism be permitted during its lifetime to “cross over” the divide as a result, for example, of gene therapy of its brain???

D-5. Should we “keep an eye out” for mutations or evolutionary developments that enable various organisms/species to “cross over” the divide to human status???

E. Are the existing U.K.-style restrictions on human cloning and human-animal creation (a 14-day limit on embryo development before destruction and no implantation of human-animal combos into either a human or animal womb) a reasonable balancing of ethical considerations against the needs of medical research???

E-1. Instead of a time limit, what about a limit based on number of cells or based on functional development (e.g. the beginning of a brain so that pain can be perceived)???

E-2. If there is such an E-1 relaxation of the limit, can we trust researchers who are motivated by greed and fame to police themselves???

F. International law – assuming that we (and the Brits after their Parliamentary debate next month) are unsuccessful in getting the United Nations to mandate international standards --

F-1. Should U.S. researchers and U.S. universities be permitted to maintain foreign facilities to house 25%/50%/75%/etc. human-DNA animals and/or 100%-human-DNA animals created from stem cells created from skin cells for use as “lab rats”???

F-2. Should U.S. citizens be permitted to maintain at foreign vacation/weekend homes 25%/50%/75%/etc. human-DNA animals and/or 100%-human-DNA animals created from stem cells created from skin cells for use as sex slaves???

F-3. Should the C.I.A. be permitted to maintain outside the U.S. 25%/50%/75%/etc. human-DNA animals and/or 100%-human-DNA animals created from stem cells created from skin cells for use outside the U.S. as assassins???

G. Other issues???

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