This blog is established by the students of Dr. Humaira Jamshed at Habib University, Pakistan. The blog aims to explain scientific concepts in the context of bio-related movies.
Are Human/Animal Hybrids Possible?
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ARE HUMAN/ANIMAL HYBRIDS POSSIBLE?
Are Hybrids of humans possible? Where are werewolves found? Woah, a big foot was spotted in Texas Yesterday!!!
Source: texasmonthly.com
Imagining werewolves, bigfoots, hybrid humans, animals with parents from different species, and being curious about the everlasting myths on the internet is common for today's generation and especially for those who do not indulge in the science but get fantasized by graphics, illusions, and exaggerations. Well, do not worry, we have got you covered! This blog aims to debunk all the myths related to human and animal hybrids by explaining the science behind it and referring to Splice, a good watch to relate to the science of combining Human and Animal DNA. Let's get going then!
So first things first, can humans and animals interbreed? The answer is No. Can we have different hybrids having human genes and DNA? Well, that can happen. Let's dive deep.
The interbreeding of humans and animals is not possible. Let's learn some science. For instance, God forbid, if mating happens between humans and chimpanzees, human sperm will lose its way into the reproductive tract of the female chimpanzee. A group of follicle cells surrounds a mammal's egg when it is released. Signals from these cells are released helping the sperm to find direction to the egg cell. In this case, a chimp's egg will not be able to send correct signals to human sperms. But let's say a sperm finds its way to the egg cell, even then it will not be able to fuse as the egg cells in mammals have a layer of a special type of proteins around them which only let in the sperms with certain receptors so a human sperm will fail here too. But wait this can be done through microinjecting, no? Well, let's see. For this, you need to know a little bit about chromosomes. Here is a short video if you want to explore. Here comes some Mathematics. A human's sperm has 23 chromosomes while a female chimp's egg has 24 chromosomes. Let's say they somehow combine. After combining, we have 47 chromosomes in the cell, after duplication, this number becomes 94. Now the cell splits itself into two. Here a special type of protein called microtubules starts scanning for duplicate chromosomes in order to pass the pair to the daughter cell. These proteins look for 48 chromosomes and if there's an extra chromosome or a chromosome is missing, the process is aborted. So yes, you guessed it right, for human sperm, the process will be terminated as after duplication the cells have 47 and not 48 chromosomes. The same is the case if a chimp's sperm tries to fertilize a human's egg. So yes no Chumans or Humanzees. Now you know why Ilya Ivanov a mad scientist who tried to make a human-ape hybrid failed. Read more about that controversy here.
Then What Was Dren In Splice?
A Human/Animal Hybrid creature named Dren from the movie Splice Source: awn.com
The movie Splice shows two scientists who splice genes. Gene splicing is cutting and extracting fragments of desired genes from different organisms and then combining them to form organisms that are useful for the desired purpose. Currently, the most common use of Gene splicing is in the agriculture industry. You can learn more about Gene Splicing here. In the movie the two scientists, Clive and Elsa first created two hybrids having human/animal genes. Elsa then went to create a hybrid with her own DNA and the DNA and genes that were used for Fred and Ginger. She does that by implanting a combination of DNA into a human egg cell This results in the production of a human/animal hybrid named Dren. She then takes that egg and places it in an artificial womb or an incubator and yes the egg starts growing. Let's talk about its science. Gene Splicing makes sense and it has been out there, being implemented for a while now but is creating a human/animal hybrid through gene splicing and then fertilizing the egg in artificial wombs possible, and if it is then to what extent? Let's find out. A couple of decades ago it might have been thought of as something non-human impossible but lately, some hilarious scientists have actually been successful in introducing a human cell into a non-human organism and making it grow. In 2017, scientists injected human cells into a pig's embryo and it actually grew to be four weeks old. Read this article from National Geographic to find out more about that. Moreover, Genetic engineering and the use of CRISPR, a revolutionary tool for Gene editing is making difficult and impossible things easy and possible. So human/animal hybrids are definitely on the cards but do not pay much attention to the Werewolf and Bigfoot news, they are not out yet. Some of the viral graphics on the internet like the one below are not human/animal hybrids but works of art so be aware of conspiracies and hoaxes.
An Australian sculptor's depiction of a human/animal hybrid. Source:https://www.haidagwaiiobserver.com/
Well now that we have learned that Gene editing is possible, here is a comprehensive video just in case you are curious about gene editing, its modification, and the future of genetically engineered humans.
Source: Kurzgesagt, Youtube.
Ethical Aspects
There are some ethical boundaries that make mad scientists infamous when they cross these. In today's world, with Gene splicing, Gene editing and remarkable technologies scientists are able to explore anything they wish. Today Gene splicing is used in the domains of medicine and agriculture, Gene editing is used to find the cure for deadly diseases but in some corners of the world, there are some mad people, like Clive and Elsa in Splice, who without considering boundaries and consequences, carry out dangerous expeditions!
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