阅读理解

Isamousethatcanspeakacceptable?Howaboutadogwithhumanhandsorfeet?Scientiststhepeoplewiththeknow-howtomakesuchthingshappenarenowthinkingaboutwhethersuchexperimentsaremorallyrightornot．

OnNov．10Britain'sAcademyofMedicalScienceslaunchedastudyontheuseofanimalswithhumanmaterialsinscientificresearch．TheworkisexpectedtotakeatleastayearbutitsleadershopeitwillleadtoguidelinesforscientistsinBritainandaroundtheworldonhowfartheycangomixinghumangenesintoanimalsinsearchofwaystofighthumandiseases．

“Dotheseconstructs(构想)challengeourideaofwhatitistobehuman?”askedMartinBobrowaprofessorofmedicalgeneticsatCambridgeUniversityandchairofa14-membergrouplookingintotheissue．“Itisimportantthatweconsiderthesequestionsnowsothatappropriateboundariesarerecognized．”

Usinghumanmaterialinanimalsisnotnew．ScientistshavealreadycreatedmonkeysthathaveahumanformoftheHuntingdon'sgenesotheycanstudyhowthediseasedevelops;andmicewithlivers(肝)madefromhumancellsarebeingusedtostudytheeffectsofnewdrugs．

Howeverscientistssaythetechnologytoputevergreateramountsofhumangeneticmaterialintoanimalsisspreadingquicklyaroundtheworld－raisingthepossibilitythatsomescientistsinsomeplacesmaywanttogofurtherthanismorallyacceptable．

LastyearinBritaintherewasalivelydebateovernewlawsallowingthecreationofhuman-animalembryos(胚胎)forexperiments．Ononesideofthedebatewerereligiousgroupswhoclaimedthatsuchscienceinterfereswithnature．Opposingthemwerescientistswhopointedoutthatsuchexperimentswerevitaltoresearchcuresfordiseases．

Theexpertswillpublishreportsaftertheendofthestudyinwhichtheywillgivedefinitions(定义)foranimalembryoswithhumangenesorcellslookatsafetyandanimalwelfareissuesandconsidertherightlegalframeworktoworkwithin．