Leena Kangaskoski: Animal ± human

Completion year: 2019

Keywords: Leena, Kangaskoski, cellculture, soluviljely, chimera, koe, testi, myyttinen, lääketiede

The test begins. Imagine how the pig embryo is opened up. Out come the pig cells that govern pig kidneys, in go human cells that govern human kidneys. At this stage they are both developing and adjusting to each another, they start to grow together as one.

Imagine how the pig cells in the pig embryo and the human kidney cells in the pig embryo feel out each other and fill in the gaps in each other and how they feel life is good and they go towards it. The cells are alive, they don’t want to die.

They don’t know the one they are growing in is a mixed species and mythical in nature. They don’t know that humans have made them and yet the world in which humans and pigs live might not be ready for them.

They don’t know that in them there is an ancient monster chimera blazing fire from its mouth, that in them there is hope for people who wait in queues for organ transplant donors, angels in pig disguise.

There is life inside them and they don’t want to die.

At the moment the pig-human chimeras are allowed to mature for 28 days. In Western Europe and the US there are strict codes of ethics and regulations in place that forbid certain experimentation using human cells. However, there are vast differences in the regulatory framework.

With the creation of a human-chimera emerges the question: what rights does an animal-human chimera have? Human rights or animal rights? Can the scope of humanity be widened, could the human-chimeras be forerunners of future organisms?

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