In this rapidly changing world, we are seeing more examples science fiction becoming science fact. A team American and Chinese scientists has created the world's first part-human, part-monkey embryo. This fusion genetic tissue is called a chimera. The scientists say it potentially paves the way lifesaving medical advances. Bio-scientist Henry Greely explained the importance this scientific breakthrough. He said: "The long-term goal this research team is to grow human organs pigs - kidneys, livers, hearts, etc." He added: "They want to do that to make more human organs transplants. Tens thousands of people a transplant list die every year waiting for a transplant."
The groundbreaking research involved injecting 25 human cells the embryos of long-tailed macaque monkeys. The human cells developed inside 132 the embryos. The scientists studied the development the embryos for 19 days. Many people are disturbed the research and believe it belongs to the realm horror movies. Professor Greely said he appreciated that there are many ethical concerns the creation and use of chimera. He said: "Every time a person gets an organ transplant, the result is an intra-species chimera - an organism made up cells from two members the same species....When a human gets a pig heart valve, she becomes an inter-species chimera."
