vac@cs.cmu.edu (Vincent Cate) (06/08/91)
Does anyone know if anyone has ever done experiments to see if
humans and any type of monkey can cross and produce live offspring?
I remember a biology professor saying that the DNA of donkeys and
horses was less similar than that of humans and some type of monkeys,
or apes. It is possible to cross a donkey and a horse (you get a mule,
which can not have children). He thought it might be possibile for
humans and monkeys to cross but he did not know of anyone that had
tried this experiment.
If not the full experiment, how about just in a testtube to see if the
cell even starts dividing?
Thanks for any info,
-- Vince
vac@cs.cmu.edusroberts@eng.auburn.edu (Scott T Roberts) (06/09/91)
(The original post was in sci.bio. No flames for cross-posting please.) Gross. But I'm all in favor of it. I think it would be a good thing to reduce the persistent, popular misconception that human beings are something special. Especially that myth that says we are more intelligent than dolphins, et. al. I don't see dolphins killing each other off, reproducing like rabbits, and destroying their environment to an extent that makes the survival of their species (and others) questionable. Dolphins just *seem* nicer too. Ever hear of Hatterous (sp?) Jack? The Albino Dolphin that guided ships safely to port.
winalski@psw.enet.dec.com (Paul S. Winalski) (06/10/91)
In article <1991Jun8.171911.4417@ducvax.auburn.edu>, sroberts@eng.auburn.edu (Scott T Roberts) blathers: |> |>Gross. But I'm all in favor of it. I think it would be a good thing to |>reduce the persistent, popular misconception that human beings are |>something special. Especially that myth that says we are more intelligent |>than dolphins, et. al. I don't see dolphins killing each other off, |>reproducing like rabbits, and destroying their environment to an extent |>that makes the survival of their species (and others) questionable. |>Dolphins just *seem* nicer too. Ever hear of Hatterous (sp?) Jack? |>The Albino Dolphin that guided ships safely to port. |> Apparently, the experiment asked about by the original poster (crossing monkeys and humans) has indeed been performed. Unfortunately, the offspring, our dear Mr. Scott T Roberts, was all too viable. Pity. --PSW
kyee@bnlux1.bnl.gov (kenton yee) (06/11/91)
In article <23301@shlump.lkg.dec.com> winalski@psw.enet.dec.com (Paul S. Winalski) writes: >In article <1991Jun8.171911.4417@ducvax.auburn.edu>, >sroberts@eng.auburn.edu (Scott T Roberts) blathers: >|> >|>Gross. But I'm all in favor of it. I think it would be a good thing to >|>reduce the persistent, popular misconception that human beings are >|>something special. Especially that myth that says we are more intelligent >|>than dolphins, et. al. I don't see dolphins killing each other off, >|>reproducing like rabbits, and destroying their environment to an extent >|>that makes the survival of their species (and others) questionable. hah! they would if they could. if you don't think humans are special, why do you think humans are ESPECIALLY destructive? >|>Dolphins just *seem* nicer too. Ever hear of Hatterous (sp?) Jack? >|>The Albino Dolphin that guided ships safely to port. hah! ever hear of XXX-fill in your favorite martre here. what if we crossed a human with a supercomputer?
barger@aristotle.ils.nwu.edu (Jorn Barger) (06/11/91)
vac@cs.cmu.edu (Vincent Cate) writes: > > Does anyone know if anyone has ever done experiments to see if > humans and any type of monkey can cross and produce live offspring? Some months ago I asked a scarier question (I thought): you keep seeing the figure that the difference in DNA between humans and chimps is less than 1%... but you also see that the difference between male and female humans is ~3%. So maybe I should be like Michael Jackson and have a chimp for my S.O.?
toms@fcs260c2.ncifcrf.gov (Tom Schneider) (06/11/91)
>what if we crossed a human with a supercomputer?
what a shocking idea!ed_l1@verifone.com (06/13/91)
In article <23301@shlump.lkg.dec.com>, winalski@psw.enet.dec.com (Paul S. Winalski) writes: > In article <1991Jun8.171911.4417@ducvax.auburn.edu>, > sroberts@eng.auburn.edu (Scott T Roberts) blathers: > |> > |>Gross. But I'm all in favor of it. I think it would be a good thing to > |>reduce the persistent, popular misconception that human beings are > |>something special. Especially that myth that says we are more intelligent > |>than dolphins, et. al. I don't see dolphins killing each other off, > |>reproducing like rabbits, and destroying their environment to an extent > |>that makes the survival of their species (and others) questionable. > |>Dolphins just *seem* nicer too. Ever hear of Hatterous (sp?) Jack? > |>The Albino Dolphin that guided ships safely to port. > |> > > Apparently, the experiment asked about by the original poster (crossing > monkeys and humans) has indeed been performed. [name calling deleted for esthetic purposes] > > --PSW humans x monkeys? Not possible. the genetic differences are much too great, even different numbers of chromosomes! (in most, if not all instances) humans X apes? Still very unlikely for the same reasons. Even though a chimpanzee is only 3% different from us genetically, it is likely enough. The chimp is our closest living relative in the animal world. I don't know of anyone who has tried it, it is likely that someone, somewhere, has tried, but never spoken of it (betting on human nature). Sure dolphins (porpoises) are smart. Humans still have a larger brain size to body weight ratio, whatever that means (maybe that we are more intelligent, but not necessarily smarter....). We are both products of our years of biological and social evolution in two very different environments, what works for us may not work for them, and vice versa. So dolphins seem (in some cases) to be altruistic. Humans, in some cases seem to be altruistic, too. There's also lots of dolphins that aren't! -- just like there's lots of humans who aren't. Let's not over-romanticize dolphins, making them into watery angels -- it just ain't true. -- *************************************************************************** * Ed L'Esperance - P.O. Box 4635, Kane`ohe, Hawai`i 96744 U.S.A. * * Anthropologist, Writer, Editor - Ka`onohi`ula`okahokumiomio`ehiku * * UUCP%"Ed_L1@VeriFone.Com" * * "As the sun warms the body, so acceptance is the sunlight of the soul." * ***************************************************************************
ed_l1@verifone.com (06/13/91)
Everything deleted for brevity... humans x monkeys? Not possible. the genetic differences are much too great, even different numbers of chromosomes! (in most, if not all instances) humans X apes? Still very unlikely for the same reasons. Even though a chimpanzee is only 3% different from us genetically, it is likely enough that the 3% difference is enough to prevent crossing. Whether the sperm and egg will germinate is a question for the bio folks, whether it would live if it did, is even more remote. The chimp is our closest living relative in the animal world. I don't know of anyone who has tried it, it is likely that someone, somewhere, has tried, but never spoken of it (betting on human nature). Sure dolphins (porpoises) are smart. Humans still have a larger brain size to body weight ratio, whatever that means (maybe that we are more intelligent, but not necessarily smarter....). We are both products of our years of biological and social evolution in two very different environments, what works for us may not work for them, and vice versa. So dolphins seem (in some cases) to be altruistic. Humans, in some cases seem to be altruistic, too. There's also lots of dolphins that aren't! -- just like there's lots of humans who aren't. Let's not over-romanticize dolphins, making them into watery angels -- it just ain't true. We may be the only totally domesticated primate, but we are that only marginally, at times. -- *************************************************************************** * Ed L'Esperance - P.O. Box 4635, Kane`ohe, Hawai`i 96744 U.S.A. * * Anthropologist, Writer, Editor - Ka`onohi`ula`okahokumiomio`ehiku * * UUCP%"Ed_L1@VeriFone.Com" * * "As the sun warms the body, so acceptance is the sunlight of the soul." * ***************************************************************************
williams@pogo.WV.TEK.COM (William Smith) (06/17/91)
|> |>humans X apes? Still very unlikely for the same reasons. Even though a |>chimpanzee is only 3% different from us genetically, it is likely enough. |>The chimp is our closest living relative in the animal world. |>I don't know of anyone who has tried it, it is likely that someone, somewhere, |>has tried, but never spoken of it (betting on human nature). |> From my dim past I remember an article in Life magazine from the mid 50's that reported the Russians had conducted experiments breeding chimpanzees with humans. I've been meaning to try and find this again and see what it says. Anyone else have any recollection along these lines? We asked a science teacher about this, and his reply was that somebody'd have to fuck a chimp. With our fuzzy concept of what this meant we though it was pretty funny. The article would be about 1955 or maybe 56. Remember this was the time of a very 'hot' cold-war, and Russian bashing was in. William Smith Tek Wilsonville
gt4115a@prism.gatech.EDU (HARDIE,PETER THOMAS) (06/22/91)
In article <2766.2857422d@verifone.com> ed_l1@verifone.com writes: > humans X apes? Still very unlikely for the same reasons. Even though a > chimpanzee is only 3% different from us genetically, it is likely enough > that the 3% difference is enough to prevent crossing. Whether the sperm > and egg will germinate is a question for the bio folks, whether it would > live if it did, is even more remote. > The chimp is our closest living relative in the animal world. But are there not other crossbreeds that are more distant from each other than humans and apes? Certainly the mule produced by the cross would be likely to die early. > So dolphins seem > (in some cases) to be altruistic. Humans, in some cases seem to be > altruistic, too. There's also lots of dolphins that aren't! -- just like Someone once claimed that dolphins are smart enough to know that they are being watched, and therefore never harm humans while observed. What they do when not observed is rumored to be more grisly...:-) -- Pete Hardie Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta Georgia, 30332 uucp: ...!{decvax,hplabs,ncar,purdue,rutgers}!gatech!prism!gt4115a Internet: gt4115a@prism.gatech.edu