British could accidentally make Taurens [update 1]

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 7th 2006 at 9:00AM }

The BBC reports scientists at Newcastle University and Kings College, London, are attempting to create "hybrid human-bovine embryos." They stress the embryos would not be allowed to develop beyond a few days and will be used for stem cell research. To make a very long story short, human embryos are in short supply, so it's easier to extract the genetic information from cow eggs and insert human DNA in its place. The same thing they did with Dolly the sheep.

Why not leave the cow DNA in there and see what happens? We would create our very own Taurens, as found in the World of Warcraft. We could raise them on the plains, teach them to respect the "Earth Mother" and then they'd "pwn" us for raping the land! It would be horrible, but they're sooooo cute.

Calum MacKeller, from the Scottish Council on Human Bioethics, says, "In the history of humankind, animals and human species have been separated ... you may begin to undermine the whole distinction between humans and animals ... if that happens, it might also undermine human dignity and human rights." Wait, did he just agree that the Taurens would "pwn" us?

[Thanks Thraal]

[Update 1: Apologies to the Newcastle folk, you've been added]

Tags: bbc, blizzard, cloning, tauren

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

John @ Nov 7th 2006 9:08AM

The embryos would contain 99.9% human DNA - 100% in the nucleus. Another ridiculous post, grats Joystiq.

Karine @ Nov 7th 2006 9:15AM

Wow, and I thought gamers would have a sense of humor. Guess that's why it's considered a sports nowadays - bunch of pretentious pricks taking themselves way too seriously.

Anyway... I digress. Thank you for the post, I found it entertaining. :)

Seemoneh @ Nov 8th 2006 11:49AM

Eh. I thought it was amusing

Spilt_Milk @ Nov 7th 2006 9:15AM

Humans ARE animals.

We get in trouble when we start to think we are anything but animals.

Pierce @ Nov 7th 2006 9:16AM

shamans are overpowered

Raynre @ Nov 7th 2006 9:19AM

The Great Tauren Uprising of 2124

Has kind of a nice ring to it. For an apocolypse I mean...

Dracula Jones @ Nov 7th 2006 9:18AM

So wait... so... if we use these stem cells... do we get War Stomp?

EggMan @ Nov 7th 2006 9:32AM

8. It's not that, more like now we get to read all the predictable attempts at humor that will follow in the posts after this one and beyond.

And none will be funny.

I wouldn't go that far, I think that some posters in the right 'moo-d' will make funny comments. There's just too much at 'steak' here to sit around chewing the cud. Put your negativity out to pasture. What's your beef with people trying to be funny?

Zo?. @ Nov 7th 2006 9:27AM

Wow. Interesting. I didn't know about this. For that, I thank you.

For suggesting that they just let the embryos be and "see what happens," I retract my thanks. That was stupid.

Imagine growing up like that.

> @ Nov 7th 2006 9:35AM

This is really cool research; too bad this would never be allowed to happen in the USA. Its probably already being done in South Korea or Japan.

zsavior @ Nov 7th 2006 9:43AM

LOL right now George W Bush is reading this and saying "NERF SCIENCE! Creationism FTW!" he then goes on to Ninja some epic loot because Connie rice didn't put on Master loot!

Gamer G @ Nov 7th 2006 9:47AM

Us British already have

We call her My Sister

yes @ Nov 7th 2006 9:51AM

Sounds like the book of Revelations.

"and the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle."

crono141 @ Nov 7th 2006 9:58AM

they wouldn't be viable embryos. They would die during development.

Did you know that a human can impregnate a sheep? You know what happens to those embryos? They die. No sheep men for you.

I do see the humor in the post, its just not very good.

crono141 @ Nov 7th 2006 9:58AM

"Humans ARE animals.

We get in trouble when we start to think we are anything but animals."

I'd respond to this, but there's no use in crying over Spilt_Milk...

Thank you, I'll be here all night!

EdZ @ Nov 7th 2006 10:05AM

Let me just make one thing clear before things get out of hand: genetics in MGS and genetics in Real Life are two completely separate entities.

dazsly @ Nov 7th 2006 10:30AM

@ yes

"and the first beast was like a lion, and the second beast like a calf, and the third beast had a face as a man, and the fourth beast was like a flying eagle."

If you would understand the bible, these beasts are symbolic and refer to world powers, which are currently anglo-amercian world power.

futanari futanari futanari @ Nov 7th 2006 10:36AM

I saw a hentai manga like this once.

The girls had huge ti...er, ties?

Chris @ Nov 7th 2006 10:42AM

You guys are idiots. Can you comprehend nothing?

The experiment is... taking the bovine DNA out... making it 99.9% human.

Joystiq said, “what if they left the bovine DNA in, then they'd accidentally make Taurens.”

WHICH IS TRUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MORONS MUCH? GG l2play.

Chris @ Nov 7th 2006 10:45AM

But yeah, lol, this could be the start of a real World of Warcraft if they mess the experiment up.

Emceay @ Nov 7th 2006 6:28PM

Man, as if humans weren't already tasty enough, now we've got em fused with burgers...
Someone throw in a dead baby joke for good measure.

"Humans ARE animals.

We get in trouble when we start to think we are anything but animals."

Nice, I get tired of hearing arguements which are founded on this statement being false. Technically though, humans already have chimeras when two twins fuse together as blastocysts - Litterally two people in one.

Cannonstar @ Nov 7th 2006 11:04AM

Mmmm... Taurenburger.

John Chamard @ Nov 7th 2006 2:54PM

Moo?

Moo!

Moo...

RoroCo @ Nov 7th 2006 11:09AM

Is that Alf???

FSK405K @ Nov 7th 2006 11:15AM

Awesome. I wish I lived in a country where science wasn't shunned. Actually, though, Ian Wilmut, the Dolly cloner, was subjected to quite a bit of prejudice for that, including I believe being egged. Perhaps China is the only place where cloners can work in piece? In that case, I should relearn all my Chinese.

Dave @ Nov 7th 2006 11:28AM

I think they should remove the bovine DNA, and replace it with some undead DNA. I'm not trying to be funny. I'm completely serious..............NOT.

crono141 @ Nov 7th 2006 11:55AM

Resident Evil FTW!

Frosty22 @ Nov 7th 2006 12:48PM

@ yes and dazly

First off, it is the Book of Revelation, not revelations. And secondly, you are basing this off of human interpretation, of which there are many. Some take it literal, some put a government spin on it. I don't know how you can claim one is right over the other. John (the author of Revelation) put into words as best he could what he had a vision about. Seeing as his visions probably had a lot of things that had not yet come around (ie nuclear bombs, missiles, etc) he had to put those in words that he knew, as our contemporary words were not around then. Or maybe not, maybe his words are to be taken completely literally. I'm just saying dont go around saying one person is wrong and you are right, especially when you can't get the name of the book right. :)

OtakuCODE @ Nov 7th 2006 1:51PM

Always strange to see these sorts of scientific advancements being made in Britain. Most of the population there is scared out of their tiny little minds over genetically modified food. They have protests over 'frankenfood' and such and don't have any idea what they're babbling about, they just want any reason at all to be morally indignant... sort of like how lots of people here in America get whenever there's a breast on TV. Yes, we've all got our problems as cultures... and Britains is not understanding how DNA works.

I give this experiment a 50/50 chance of actually being performed over either being raided by moronic genetic 'activists' or having their funding cut in the face of a wide-eyed, shaking, spittle-lipped, uneducated public.

4got10 @ Nov 7th 2006 6:23PM

He who breaks the law goes back to the House of Pain!!!

Jman1236 @ Nov 8th 2006 12:43AM

This won't end well. You only have to watch the first few episodes of Full Metal Alchemist to know that when you try to play God, it'll come back to bite you in the butt.

Enliven @ Nov 7th 2006 4:44PM

British scientists can clone animals but they don't understand the principals of DNA??

The concerns regarding GM foods are the result of scientists from 13 different countries claiming they are unsafe. It's not irrational hysteria.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/278171.stm

There was a lot of debate about the research but you can't blame the people for being concerned when the people they trust to be informed in these matters turn out not to be reliable.

otakucode @ Nov 7th 2006 5:47PM

Enliven: The problem with that study you pointed out (definitely not what I was talking about when talking about the British PUBLICS irrational fears of 'frankenfood') is that it's not about a problem with GM foods. It's about a problem with one single GM food. You don't refuse to eat anything that grows on earth because hemlock really ruined your grandmas day. The scientists are right in the fact that companies doing GM food are, by and large, straight up evil in their intentions and actions. That stands a world apart from saying that the basic underlying technology of genetically modified foods is inherently harmful.

Golden rice is the perfect example. It saves the lives of millions of people every year. Monsanto is the perfect counterexample. They're the most evil people on the face of the planet and a great danger to the entire human species because of the ways in which they want to use GM. GM is just a tool, and it can be wielded for good or bad like any other technology. And just like any morally neutral technology like this, irrational fears prosper... and those fears prosper particularly in Great Britain currently.