Page 9 - Glowing Bunnies!? Why We're Making Hybrids, Chimeras, and Clones

elcome to our brave new world.
With genetic engineering, our science-
fiction future has arrived. Every time people
have imagined some impossible creation—a
W Frankenstein’s monster or clone army, reborn
dinosaurs or bioengineered sharks, mutant insects, supersmart
chimpanzees, or even the ancient mythic Chimera, that part-lion,
part-goat, part-serpent, fire-breathing beast—we’ve wondered, What
if it really existed?
In one way or another, if not today, then tomorrow, we may get to
find out. These flights of fancy could come to life—and all thanks to
our new genetic tools, which allow us to modify and change animals in
almost any way we want.

This illustration depicts a bronze sculpture of a chimera built in 400
B.C.E. In Greek mythology, the Chimera terrorized the countryside
of Lycia in Anatolia or Asia Minor until it was defeated by the hero
Bellerophon and his winged steed Pegasus.

7