Editing Human–animal hybrid (section)

==Description==
For thousands of years, these [[Hybrid (biology)|hybrids]] have been one of the most common themes in [[storytelling]] about animals throughout the world. The lack of a strong divide between humanity and animal nature in multiple traditional and ancient cultures has provided the underlying historical context for the popularity of tales where humans and animals have mingling relationships, such as in which one turns into the other or in which some mixed being goes through a journey.<ref name=Margo/> [[Interspecies friendships]] within the animal kingdom, as well as between humans and their pets, additionally provides an underlying root for the popularity of such beings.<ref name=arts/>

In various mythologies throughout [[history]], many particularly famous hybrids have existed, including as a part of Egyptian and Indian spirituality.<ref name=Margo/> The entities have also been characters in fictional media more recently in history such as in [[H. G. Wells]]' work ''[[The Island of Doctor Moreau]]'', adapted into the popular [[1932 in film|1932 film]] ''[[Island of Lost Souls (1932 film)|Island of Lost Souls]]''.<ref name=fone/> In legendary terms, the hybrids have played varying roles from that of trickster and/or villain to serving as divine heroes in very different contexts, depending on the given culture.<ref name=Margo/>

For example, [[Pan (god)|Pan]] is a deity in [[Greek mythology]] that rules over and symbolizes the untamed wild, being worshiped by hunters, fishermen, and shepherds in particular. The mischievous yet cheerful character is a [[Satyr]] who has the hindquarters, legs, and horns of a goat while otherwise being essentially human in appearance, with stories of his encounters with different gods, humans, and others being retold for centuries on after the days of early Greece by groups such as the [[Delphian Society]].<ref name=delphian>{{cite book|title=Hebrew literature. Greek mythology, life and art|pages=169–171|url=https://books.google.com/?id=WKIOAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA169&dq=%22pan,+oh,+great+god+Pan%22#v=onepage&q=%22pan%2C%20oh%2C%20great%20god%20Pan%22&f=false|publisher=[[Delphian Society]]|date=1913|editor=Rev. J.K. Brennan}}</ref> Specifically, the human-animal hybrid has appeared in acclaimed works of art by figures such as [[Francis Bacon (artist)|Francis Bacon]].<ref name=wet>{{cite book|pages=12.3|title=Wetwares: Experiments in Postvital Living|first=Richard|last=Doyle|url=https://archive.org/details/wetwaresexperime0000doyl|url-access=registration|quote=just you watch! pan.|date=2003|publisher=[[University of Minnesota Press]]|isbn=9781452905846}}</ref> Additional famous mythological hybrids include the Egyptian [[Psychopomp|god of death]], named [[Anubis]], and the fox-like Japanese beings that are called [[Kitsune]].<ref name=Margo/>

The significance of human-animal hybridization lies precisely in its merger of human characteristics with animal (sometimes monstrous) traits. Hybrids portray humanity’s conflicted or divided nature.<ref>[[James L. Resseguie]], "[https://www.mdpi.com/2077-1444/10/3/217 A Glossary of New Testament Narrative Criticism with illustrations], 5-6.</ref>  For example, the [[centaur]], which has the face, arms, and trunk of a human with the body of a [[horse]], depicts the unbridled and wild tendencies within humans. The [[sphinx]], which in its Greek form has the face of a woman and the body of a lion with wings, represents the cunning, trickster side of humans. Sophocles’ [[Oedipus]]  narratives highlight this trait when the sphinx of Thebes poses a riddle that appears unsolvable but is solved by Oedipus. The manticore  has the head of a human with three rows of shark-like teeth, a body of a lion, and a tail with venomous spines similar to porcupine quills or a scorpion-like tail. The [[manticore]] portrays the bestial and vicious nature of humans. Hybrids are also found in the [[Book of Revelation]] where they portray what this world would look like if evil gained the upper hand and reigned uncontested. Specifically, the locusts of Revelation 9 are human-animal hybrids released from the [[Abyss (religion)|abyss]] (the demonic underworld). They are like horses equipped for battle with something like gold crowns on their heads and faces like humans (Rev. 9:7). Their hair is like women’s hair, teeth like lions’ teeth, and scales like iron breastplates (Rev. 9:8-9). Their wings make a sound like the sound of chariots charging into battle, and their tails have stingers like scorpion tails (Rev. 9:9-10). The locust-hybrids represent the reverse side of this world and portray what the world would be like if God allowed demonic powers to have free, unrestrained reign in this world.<ref>Craig Koester, ''Revelation and the End of All Things'', 2nd ed. (Grand Rapids:Eerdmans, 2018), 102.</ref>

When looked at scientifically, outside of a fictional and/or mythical context, the real-life creation of human-animal hybrids has served as a subject of legal, moral, and technological debate in the context of recent advances in [[genetic engineering]].<ref name=Columbus/><ref name=Mott/><ref name=Weiss/> Defined by the magazine ''[[Humanity+#H.2B Magazine|H+]]'' as "genetic alterations that are blendings [sic] of animal and human forms", such hybrids may be referred by other names occasionally such as "para-humans".<ref name=arts>{{cite web|title=Arts: The Parahuman Sculpture of Patricia Piccinini, Posthumanity and What It Really Means to be Human|publisher=[[Humanity+#H.2B Magazine|H+]]|date=October 11, 2013|accessdate=August 6, 2015|url=http://hplusmagazine.com/2013/10/11/arts-the-parahuman-sculpture-of-patricia-piccinini-posthumanity-and-what-it-really-means-to-be-human/}}</ref><ref name=Columbus/> They may additionally may be called "humanized animals".<ref name=Weiss/> Technically speaking, they are also related to "cybrids" ([[cytoplasmic hybrids]]), with "cybrid" cells featuring foreign human [[Cell nucleus|nuclei]] inside of them being a topic of interest. Possibly, a real-world human-animal hybrid may be an entity formed from either a [[Egg cell|human egg]] fertilized by a nonhuman [[sperm]] or a nonhuman egg fertilized by a human sperm.<ref name=Columbus/> While at first being a concept in the likes of legends and [[thought experiment]]s, the first stable human-animal [[Chimera (genetics)|chimera]]s (not hybrids but related) to actually exist were first created by [[Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine|Shanghai Second Medical University]] scientists in 2003, the result of having fused human cells with rabbit eggs.<ref name=Mott>{{cite news|url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/01/0125_050125_chimeras.html|first=Mott|last=Maryann|date=January 25, 2005|title=Animal-Human Hybrids Spark Controversy|publisher=[[National Geographic News]]|accessdate=August 6, 2015}}</ref> As well, a [[U.S. Patent and Trademark Office|U.S. patent]] has notably been granted for a mouse chimera with a human [[immune system]].<ref name=Weiss/>

In terms of [[Bioethics|scientific ethics]], restrictions on the creation of human–animal hybrids have proved a controversial matter in multiple countries. While the state of [[Arizona]] banned the practice altogether in 2010, a proposal on the subject that sparked some interest in the [[United States Senate]] from 2011 to 2012 ended up going nowhere. Although the two concepts are not strictly related, discussions of experimentation into blended human and animal creatures has paralleled the discussions around [[Embryonic stem cell|embryonic stem-cell research]] (the '[[stem cell controversy]]').<ref name=Columbus/> The creation of [[genetically modified organism]]s for a multitude of purposes has taken place in the modern world for decades, examples being specifically designed foodstuffs made to have features such as higher crop yields through better disease resistance.<ref name=foods>{{cite news|last=Young|first=Caroline|date=February 2, 2014|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/builtlean/diet-and-nutrition_b_4323937.html|title=7 Most Common Genetically Modified Foods|work=[[The Huffington Post]]|accessdate=August 6, 2015}}</ref>

Despite the legal and moral controversy over the possible real-life making of such beings,<ref name=Columbus/><ref name=Mott/><ref name=Weiss/> then President [[George W. Bush]] even speaking on the subject in his [[2006 State of the Union Address|2006 State of the Union]],<ref name=Bush/> the concept of humanoid creatures with hybrid characteristics from animals, played in a dramatic and [[Sensationalism|sensationalized]] fashion, has continued to be a popular element of fictional media in the digital age. Examples include ''[[Splice (film)|Splice]]'', a [[2009 in film|2009 movie]] about experimental genetic research,<ref name=Columbus/> and ''[[The Evil Within]]'', a [[survival horror]] video game released in 2014 in which the [[protagonist]] fights grotesque hybrid creatures among other enemies.<ref name=evil>{{cite magazine|url=http://www.ew.com/article/2014/10/21/the-evil-within-review|title=Despite occasional brilliance, 'Evil Within' falls short of its horror game predecessors|magazine=[[Entertainment Weekly]]|first=Jonathon|last=Dornbush|date=October 21, 2014|accessdate=August 6, 2015}}</ref>