British scientists are worried about experiments to humanize animals. In particular, they are concerned about scientific work aimed at imparting human properties, such as speech, to apes
Such studies can turn out to be deplorable for the people themselves, so they must be stopped, according to a group of scientists led by professor of philosophy Thomas Baldwin from the University of York.
Currently, research involving monkeys such as chimpanzees is illegal in the UK. But they are still allowed in many other countries, including the United States, and British scientists are not prohibited from taking part in these experiments.
Baldwin and his colleagues have prepared a report in which they recall the script for the American film Rise of the Planet of the Apes. In the story, it all starts with the fact that scientists, in search of a cure for Alzheimer's disease, create a new breed of monkeys with a human type of intelligence.
“There is a fear that if you add too many human brain cells to the brains of primates, they will turn into creatures with abilities that are unique to humans, such as speech, or they will be able to manipulate and communicate with us,” Baldwin told press conferences in London.
Meanwhile, earlier in the US, scientists have already implanted human embryonic stem cells into mouse embryos. However, mouse cells developed faster than human cells, so there were few "humanized" embryos.