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From: pmm@acsu.buffalo.edu (patrick m mullhaupt)
Newsgroups: sci.bio
Subject: Re: The Ethics of Species Engineering ( WAS: Re: Human/Chimp Hybrids?)
Keywords: ethics
Message-ID: <38939@eerie.acsu.Buffalo.EDU>
Date: 4 Oct 90 03:10:10 GMT
References: <1990Sep23.163322.28379@msuinfo.cl.msu.edu> <4909@nisca.ircc.ohio-state.edu> <270A6B70.15884@ics.uci.edu>
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In article <270A6B70.15884@ics.uci.edu> honig@ics.uci.edu (David Honig) writes:
>The ethical problems arise when generals, politicians, and unelected
>policymakers *employ* the knowledge that scientists find.  Finding
>that chimps and humans can breed, and measuring the properties of the
>resulting creature, is different from, e.g., proposing to raise a
>breed of slaves.  And I agree with others that such a hybrid would
>be very interesting.

	As a non-biologist I am curious about what scientists would
hope to gain by performing the human/chimp experiment.  What questions
would this experiment shed light on?
	As a more general question; on what criteria should an
experiment, (any experiment), be judged as being worthwhile?  Who
should decide what the criteria are?  Should the general public get
any say in the matter?
	
	Patrick Mullhaupt