Santa Clara High Technology Law Journal Volume 25 | Issue 1 Article 4 2008 Patentability of Human-Animal Chimeras Ryan Hagglund Follow this and additional works at: http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/chtlj Part of the Law Commons Recommended Citation Ryan Hagglund, Patentability of Human-Animal Chimeras, 25 Santa Clara High Tech. L.J. 51 (2012). Available at: http://digitalcommons.law.scu.edu/chtlj/vol25/iss1/4 This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Journals at Santa Clara Law Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in Santa Clara High Technology Law Journal by an authorized administrator of Santa Clara Law Digital Commons. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. PATENTABILITY OF HUMAN-ANIMAL CHIMERAS Ryan Hagglundt Abstract The chimera was a mythological creature with a lion 's head, goat's body, and serpent's tail. Because of recent advances in biotechnology, such permutations on species are no longer the stuff of myth and legend The term "chimera " has come to describe a class of genetically engineered creatures composed of some cells from one species, which thus contain genetic material derived entirely from that species, and some cells from another species, containing only genetic material from that species. Scientists have created a goat- sheep chimera or "geep" which exhibits physical characteristicsof both animals. Likewise, scientists have also used the tools of modern molecular biology to create human-animal chimeras containing both human and animal cells. While none of the human-animal chimeras hitherto created have exhibited significant human characteristics,the synthesis of human-animal chimeras raises significant ethical concerns.