Human-Animal Hybrids: What are we creating?

 

‘Human-animal Hybrids or Hanimals for short – Do we know what we are creating?’. Anthony Richard Martin: 07/05/2024 

 

Some of us might enjoy the entertainment and escapism of a Marvel Avengers movie populated with heroes and villains with strange supernatural powers or chimeras of the ancient world. Some of us may take part in religious ceremonies, folklore, festivals, or theatre that include part human-animal creations. This is all good fun and entertaining. However, scientific research in the 21st century into how human and animals can be joined together at a biological level is taking place at an increasing level of technological advancement. (1,2). 

 

The majority of scientific research into this area is done specifically for the benefit of humankind. However, laws differ across nations and it is naive to think that human curiosity and motivation, pharmaceutical companies, governments, politics, military defence or scientists will always do what is for the benefit of humanity as a whole unless there is continual oversight to the research. Added to which, in an increasingly interconnected globalised world what happens in one area of scientific research will directly impact the rest of the world very quickly. The swift development of a Covid-19 vaccine, or the continued public unease over genetically modified food (GMOs), are two recent examples of scientific breakthroughs that have global consequences. (3,4). 

 

Artists as cultural leaders of their society are uniquely placed to visually comment on the nature of contemporary life and the values of the society they find themselves living in. They are able to have a broad, reflective approach that can act as a mirror to where that civilization may be heading. 

 

The images I have created recently are firstly fictional rather than fact. I have attempted to create forms that are humorous, and both human and animal and sometimes something else. There is no attempt to produce gratuitous horror monsters or realistic worlds to engage with; but simply to highlight in visual form one of the fundamental questions that have yet to be answered which is; ‘Will we be in control or responsible as human beings when we are able to make living beings that are partly human and partly animal?’. The moral, spiritual, ethical and philosophical debate about hybrids is in its infancy but culturally, and as far as religion and myth go, as old as the Sphinx! (5). 

 

References: 

1) Devlin, H. Science Correspondent. (2023,Sept,7). ‘Humanised kidneys grown inside pigs for the first time’. The Guardian. 

Humanised kidneys grown inside pigs for the first time | Medical research | The Guardian 

2) Cryranoski, D. Nature. (2019,July, 26). ‘Japan Approves First Human-Animal Embryo Experiments’. CENTER FOR GENETICS AND SOCIETY. Japan Approves First Human-Animal Embryo Experiments | Center for Genetics and Society 

3) Solis-Moeira, J. Fact Checked: Guilford, A. Ph.D. (Updated. 2021,November, 13). ‘How did we develop a COVID-19 vaccine so quickly?’. MedicalNewsToday. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/how-did-we-develop-a-covid-19-vaccine-so-quickly 

4) Funk, C. (2020, March, 18). ‘About half of the U.S. adults are wary of health effects of genetically modified foods, but many also see advantages’. Pew Research Centre https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/03/18/about-half-of-u-s-adults-are-wary-of-health-effects-of-genetically-modified-foods-but-many-also-see-advantages/ 

 

5) Hübner, D. (2018,March,13). Human-Animal Chimeras and Hybrids: An Ethical Paradox behind Moral Confusion? The Journal of Medicine and Philosophy: A forum for Bioethics and Philosophy of Medicine, Volume 43, Issue2, April 2018, Pages 187-210. OXFORD ACADEMIC. https://academic.oup.com/jmp/article/43/2/187/4931242