Will Human-Animal Chimeras Cause Moral Confusion? Exploring Public Attitudes.

ABSTRACT: Recent medical research involving human-monkey chimeras, human brain organoids in rats, and the transplantation of a gene-edited pig heart and gene-edited pig kidneys in living human beings have intensified the debate about whether we should create human-animal chimeras for biomedical purposes and, if so, how we should treat them. Influential views in the debate frequently appeal to assumptions regarding how people will react to such chimeras. It has, for example, been argued that the most important objection against creating such chimeras is that this will result in inexorable moral confusion about species boundaries and will, as a result, threaten the social order. But is this indeed the case? We conducted three empirical studies to examine laypeople's views on the creation and treatment

SUBMITTER: Devolder K 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12575588 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature