Humster Explained

A humster is a hybrid cell line made from a zona-free hamster oocyte fertilized with human sperm.^[1] It always consists of single cells, and cannot form a multi-cellular being. Humsters are usually destroyed before they divide into two cells; if isolated and left alone to divide, they would still be unviable.^[2]

Humsters are routinely created mainly for two reasons:

• To avoid legal issues with working with pure human embryonic stem cell lines.
• To assess the viability of human sperm for in vitro fertilization

Somatic cell hybrids between humans and hamsters or mice have been used for the mapping of various traits since at least the 1970s.^[3]

See also

• Hamster zona-free ovum test
• Human–animal hybrid
• Recombinant DNA

References

• Ballantyne . Angela . Humans and Hybrids: A Critique of the Western Moral Framework . Essays in Philosophy . 2004 . 5 . 2 . 363–374 . 10.5840/eip2004528 . Philosophy Documentation Center.
• Anne-Marie . Junca . Michelle . Plachot . Jacqueline . Mandelbaum . 1983 . Evaluation of human sperm fertility by interspecific (human spermatozoa-hamster oocytes) in vitro fertilization . Acta Europea Fertilitatis . 0587-2421 . 6670443 . 14 . 3 . 191-196.

Further reading

• Analysis of the first cell cycle in the cross between hamster eggs and human sperm

Notes and References

1. Yanagimachi . R. . Yanagimachi . H. . Rogers . B. J. . November 1976 . The Use of Zona-Free Animal Ova as a Test-System for the Assessment of the Fertilizing Capacity of Human Spermatozoa . Biology of Reproduction . 15 . 4 . 471–476 . 10.1095/biolreprod15.4.471 . 974200 . 18988034 . 0006-3363. free .
2. Final Report of the Human Embryo Research Panel . 27 September 1994 . National Institutes of Health . Bethesda, MD . 96. as cited in Book: Bonnicksen, Andrea . Chimeras, Hybrids, and Interspecies Research Politics and Policymaking . 2009 . Georgetown University Press . 9781589015746.
3. Book: Griffiths . Anthony J.F. . Miller . Jeffrey H. . Suzuki . David T. . Lewontin . Richard C. . Gelbart . William M. . David Suzuki . Richard Lewontin . William Gelbart . An introduction to genetic analysis . 2002 . W. H. Freeman . New York, NY . 978-0716735205 . 7th.