Originally Posted by
http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/03/06/1110044258297.html
Mouse will have brain of human
It will look like any ordinary mouse, but for US scientists a tiny animal threatens to ignite a profound ethical dilemma. In one of the most controversial scientific projects conceived, a group of university researchers in California's Silicon Valley is preparing to create a mouse whose brain will be composed entirely of human cells.
Researchers at Stanford University have already succeeded in breeding mice with brains that are 1 per cent human cells. In the next stage they plan to use stem cells from aborted human foetuses to create an animal whose brain cells are 100 per cent human.
Professor Irving Weissman, who heads the university's Institute of Cancer/Stem Cell Biology, believes the mice could produce a breakthrough in understanding how stem cells might lead to a cure for diseases such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's.
The group is waiting for a key US Government sponsored report, due this month, that will decide how much science can blur the distinction between man and beast.
Stanford's ethics committee has already approved the research, under certain conditions.
The head of the ethics committee, Professor Henry Greely, said: "If the mouse shows human-like behaviours, like improved memory or problem-solving, it's time to stop."
Professor Weissman said that there was no way of knowing whether the "human mice" would develop any human characteristics until after they were born.
