Home
/
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
/
There’s just no such thing
There’s just no such thing
Mar 1, 2026 2:04 AM

I saw a spate of headlines over the weekend that proclaimed something like, “Now scientists create a sheep that’s 15% human.”

15% human? Really? Isn’t that like being “a little pregnant”?

Followers of this blog may already know that I’ve written a fair bit, most of it disapproving (at least with respect to the newest genetic innovations), on the creation of chimeras. One of the concerns raised about this latest effort is the potentially devastating effects of so-called “silent” viruses, which are harmless to animals but could migrate with the harvested parts.

According to reports, Dr Patrick Dixon, an international lecturer on biological trends, warned: “Many silent viruses could create a biological nightmare in humans. Mutant animal viruses are a real threat, as we have seen with HIV.”

I’m inclined to think that this kind of work respects neither the animal nor the human person. And the latter is in part illustrated by the fact that if you just went off of what the headlines said, you’d think it’s possible for something to be partially human. It’s really a confusion about what it means to be human. You either are or you aren’t.

Previous Article：Kristof on Kiva Next Article：New player in the console wars
Comments
Welcome to mreligion comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
RELIGION & LIBERTY ONLINE
Acton Institute’s Assisi conference explores roots of poverty, engines of wealth
On September 12-14 the Acton Institute’s Rome office hosted its third annual “Economics, Development and Human Flourishing” conference in Assisi for seminarians and formation staff of the Vatican’s Pontifical Urban College. Intense discussion and open debate was stimulated by challenging lectures on economics, political philosophy, anthropology, and Catholic social doctrine. The lectures were reinforced by showings of the Institute’s video curriculum “PovertyCure”, a six-episode DVD rich in graphic content, intellectual analysis and dramatic stories about poverty in Africa, Asia and...
Radio Free Acton: Karl Zinsmeister on Philanthropy and Education Reform
On this edition of Radio Free Acton, we speak with Karl Zinsmeister, Vice President at Philanthropy Roundtableand former chief domestic policy advisor to President George W. Bush, about efforts to improve public education es over the years, why charter schools are succeeding where past reform efforts have failed, and the role of private philanthropy in fostering that success. Karl will be kicking off our Evenings at Acton seriesthis fall on Monday, October 3rd with a lecture entitled Indispensable: How Philanthropy...
Angus Deaton schools Italians on economics
But was anyone listening? That’s my question after attending the 2015 Nobel-prize-winning economist‘s talk last night in Rome at the Vatican-sponsored Cortile dei gentili(Court of Gentiles). Like the other speakers, Deaton voiced his concerns about e inequality. Unlike the others, however, he said much of it is caused by crony capitalism, a term whose meaning seems to have been lost on the Italian interpreter and hence the audience. She described it as “a type of capitalism” and “negative capitalism” but...
Rhode Island makes it difficult to suspend students
The current problems with the school-to-prison pipeline often start with poor school discipline policies. Various school discipline policies and tactics have e under criticism for being overly harsh—often causing students to drop out of school. The frequent use of suspension and expulsion for minor offenses has monplace in many schools across the country. Over the summer Gina Raimondo, the Democratic governor of Rhode Island, signed a bill into law making it harder for schools to suspend students for minor infractions....
Is there something inherently evil about Capitalism?
What is the role that Christians play in business and the marketplace? A recent episode of Equipped with Chris Brooks, titled “Is Capitalism bad business?” wrestles with that question and more. During his introduction, Brooks explains why he was pondering the question and there are a couple of reasons. The majority of “Equipped” listeners are not clergy, but men and women who work in the marketplace. Because of that, Brooks wants to talk about the “good that business does” and...
We hate politics and the media because they lower our status
“I have a simple hypothesis,” writes economist Tyler Cowen. “No matter what the media tells you their job is, the feature of media that actually draws viewer interest is how media stories either raise or lower particular individuals in status.” Cowen believes this explains why people “get so teed off” at the media: The status ranking of individuals implied by a particular media source is never the same as yours, and often not even close. You hold more of a...
What Christians should know about fractional reserve banking
Note: This is the latest entry in the Acton blog series, “What Christians Should Know About Economics.” For other entries inthe series seethis post. The Term:Fractional Reserve Banking What it Means:Understanding fractional reserve banking is easier if we separate what it is (which is rather simple to explain) and the effects the system produces(which is slightly plicated). Let’s start by taking the term fractional reserve banking and working backwards. First, there is the banking part. For our purposes we mainly...
Finance, Faith, and Human Flourishing
Samuel Gregg lecturing at Acton University. Samuel Gregg’s most recent book For God and Profit continues to receive great reviews. The most es from author and speaker John Horvat, II at The Stream. Horvat begins his review by highlighting the way Gregg reconciles the pursuit of profits with Christianity. He says this: Early in the book, Gregg establishes that profit through finance can be realized “provided that es first and that the profit is (1) understood as a means to...
Will free exercise of religion survive as a legal concept?
Is the ultimate repository of authority and control human or divine? While that is a religious question, how we answer has profound ramifications on policy and law. In fact, as Marc Degirolami notes, the answer may determine whether free exercise of religion can survive as a legal concept: One of the ways that modernity has answered this challenge is by appropriating “religion” and transforming it from a duty that one owes a creator to a duty that one owes to...
Review: Samuel Gregg’s latest ‘should be on every Christian’s reading list’
The US Review of Books recently analyzed Samuel Gregg’s latest book, For God and Profit. John E. Roper, the journalist who wrote the review, gave For God and Profit a “RECOMMENDED” rating. Beyond the rating, Roper, had some very positive remarks about Gregg’s book. He said this: The author knows he has his work cut out for him. Many Christians have been indoctrinated with a general distrust of both money and its effects on society. This often translates into the...