[extropy-chat] human / chimp breeding

[kevinfreels.com]

Contrary to popular belief, there is a lot that we don't know about speciation and the ability to reproduce. Many people tend to look at taxonomy to determine whether or not something is a different species while others think that this is determined by a creature's ability to reproduce viable offspring. We know that dogs and wolves can interbreed and we know that dogs and wolves share about 99% of the same genetic material.

We also know that humans share about 99% genetic material in common with chimpanzees. In fact, we are genetically closer to the chimpanzee than the chimpanzee is to the ape. Yet they are classified as a separate genus. Our separation was some 5-7 million years ago. So does time play a larger factor than genetic similarity? No one really knows.

Also, while studying human origins we have found that there were countless "species" of anthropoids that were running around the world. Until fairly recently it really was a Planet of the Apes. We are constantly finding new "species" that have existed at some point. WHen you look at museum exhibits you see a nice clean lineage from Australopithecus to us. But there really is a lot we don't know. For example, was H. neanderthalensis a hybrid? Were we a hybrid? There's a lot of debate about these things in paleoanthropological circles. Knowing that a 5 million year separation can still produce offspring would really tell researchers in this field a lot. 

Also, you have the possible benefits of growing replacement organs that are pretty much human in a species that would not be quite human. As long as the hybrid didn;t look too human, many would be willing to use them as live organ donors. (many wouldn;t even care if they did appear human) Of course, this is unethical, but it's your argument that ethics is not enough to keep science in check. Using your argument, body farms are another inevitability. 

Scientific experiments always stem from questions being asked. Certainly the question gets quite a bit about humans and chimps in that field. There are many debates about whether or not it would work. But as far as I know, the actual study has never been done. 

As for how to get it done, are you kidding? I am sure there are enough zoophiles out there to get this done.



  > I can think of lots of useful knowledge gained from breeding a human and a chimp and as far as I know it hasn't been tried. That's simply amazing if you ask me. 

   

  Why are you amazed that it hasn't been tried?  What useful knowledge could be gained? How would you go about breeding a human and a chimp.

   

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