Abstract
BackgroundIn recent years, the field of vaccines for diseases such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which take a heavy toll in developing countries has faced major failures. This has led to a call for more basic science research, and development as well as evaluation of new vaccine candidates. Human-animal chimeras, developed with a 'humanized' immune system could be useful to study infectious diseases, including many neglected diseases. These would also serve as an important tool for the efficient testing of new vaccine candidates to streamline promising candidates for further trials in humans. However, developing human-animal chimeras has proved to be controversial.DiscussionDevelopment of human-animal chimeras for vaccine development has been slowed down because of opposition by some philosophers, ethicists and policy makers in the west-they question the moral status of such animals, and also express discomfort about transgression of species barriers. Such opposition often uses a contemporary western world view as a reference point. Human-animal chimeras are often being created for diseases which cause significantly higher morbidity and mortality in the developing world as compared to the developed world. We argue in our commentary that given this high disease burden, we should look at socio-cultural perspectives on human-animal chimera like beings in the developing world. On examination, it's clear that such beings have been part of mythology and cultural descriptions in many countries in the developing world.SummaryTo ensure that important research on diseases afflicting millions like malaria, HIV, Hepatitis-C and dengue continues to progress, we recommend supporting human-animal chimera research for vaccine development in developing countries (especially China and India which have growing technical expertise in the area). The negative perceptions in some parts of the west about human-animal chimeras can be used as an opportunity for nurturing important vaccine development research in the developing world.
Highlights
In recent years, the field of vaccines for diseases such as Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) which take a heavy toll in developing countries has faced major failures
The negative perceptions in some parts of the west about human-animal chimeras can be used as an opportunity for nurturing important vaccine development research in the developing world
We focus especially on human-animal chimeras and some of the issues surrounding human embryonic stem cells, which are used in their construction
Summary
Ethical concerns about chimeras Ethical reservations around the creation of human-animal chimeras have revolved around the discomfort regarding the transgression of species boundaries [15], and scientists have been urged to exercise restraint in the creation of human-animal chimeras [16]. A multidisciplinary working group of scientists and bioethicists in a 2005 commentary in Science unanimously rejected ethical objections to the development of human-non human primate chimeras based on the unnaturalness or crossing of species argument They supported the US National Academy's stand that special review would be appropriate to address lingering concerns about cognitive and behavioral changes in the research animals in the specific cases of human-non human primate neural grafting [17]. While chimeras exist in Western mythology, the difference is that in places like India these are not just mythologies that were paid attention to in the past: they are part of the realities of everyday life to this day The argument that such ideas may justify modern science and technology when applied to improve human health has been applied elsewhere, for example in the literature on xenotransplantation [27]. A comprehensive study to document the extent of research in more developing countries has not yet been performed, and the regulatory environments are evolving [31]
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