Harvard Scientists Call For Better Rules To Guide Research On 'Embryoids'
Some recent studies in synthetic biology, they say, raise new questions about the ethical limits of creating entities that might feel pain or resemble human embryos — or mimic humans in other ways.
How far should scientists be allowed to go in creating things that resemble primitive human brains, hearts, and even human embryos?
That's the question being asked by a group of Harvard scientists who are doing exactly that in their labs. They're using stem cells, genetics and other new biological engineering techniques to create tissues, primitive organs and other living structures that mimic parts of the human body.
Their concern is that they and others doing this type of "synthetic biology" research might be treading into disturbing territory.
"We don't know where this going to go," says , a lecturer in genetics at Harvard Medical
