Chim-Chimera, Chim-Chimera, Chim Chim Cheree

Now, this story
is the real deal….

Scientists can create animals with
the cells of other species, but are these
chimeras
medical marvels or high-tech
monsters?

By Carolyn Y. Johnson, Globe Staff April 19, 2005

In labs around the world, the line between man and beast is blurring.

Herds of pigs are grown with partly-human livers in the hopes
of solving the organ-transplant shortage. Mice with human cells are used
as the new ”guinea pigs" for testing drugs or figuring out disease.
Human brain cells are grown inside mouse skulls to help better understand
diseases like Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

Scientists are using such chimeras — animals whose bodies are a mosaic,
with their own cells intermixed with those of another animal — to model
diseases, test drugs on live human cells, and harvest organs for transplant.

from the
Boston Globe