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Scientists successfully create human-bear-pig chimera (manbearpig)

April 1st, 2008 posted by Josh Hill

Image by Patricia Piccinini- http://www.patriciapiccinini.net/wearefamily/index.php?sec=yf&pg=01 Scientists at Linden Labs in San Francisco, California have successfully created a human-bear-pig chimera. Somatic cells from human and bear tissue were first transfected with a bacterial chromosome containing the Nanog gene and a GFP-IRES-puromycin resistance gene cassette. After a puromyocin screen was performed, the remaining cells were treated with a retroviral induction of Oct3/4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-myc, thus creating induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS). Induced pluripotent stem cells were used because of the ethical concern surrounding embryonic stem cells. The cells were then injected into pig blastocysts and introduced into the uteri of pseudo-pregnant pigs. The discovery was published today in the advance online edition of Nature Gold.

“This is quite an accomplishment for which I have great confidence will lead to continued advances in human-animal chimera production,” says Dr. Eli Vance, chief science officer of Linden Labs. “We soon hope to commercialize this technology and realize our continued vision by which any human may realize a physical chimera lifestyle.”

Al Gore could not be reached for comment.

Image by Patricia Piccinini

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61 Comments

  1. gumbah said,
    April 1, 2008 @ 12:50 am

    uhuh…

    “April 1st, 2008 by Josh Hill”

  2. petrux said,
    April 1, 2008 @ 2:24 am

    Great April’s fool!!!

  3. April Fool’s Day: The Most Annoying Day in Tech - Profy.Com said,
    April 1, 2008 @ 6:33 am

    [...] on the Mechanical Turk issues. Think Gene notes that scientists have successfully created the first Man-Bear-Pig, which should keep Al Gore too busy for the foreseeable future. And Leslie alerts me to one that I [...]

  4. Piotre said,
    April 1, 2008 @ 11:33 am

    Isn’t it bear-pig-man?

  5. Aprinlka said,
    April 1, 2008 @ 11:10 pm

    Definitely man bear pig oh how i love Al Gore and his endless look for evidence of global warming

  6. The List Post « Bored Thoughts said,
    April 2, 2008 @ 9:13 am

    [...] Scientists made a manbearpig. [...]

  7. Owen said,
    April 2, 2008 @ 12:05 pm

    Mm, well done on this april fools :)

    I’ve actually seen this art work, I think it was in the venice bienalle 4 years ago…

  8. Emily said,
    April 2, 2008 @ 12:30 pm

    Aww man-bear-piglets are adorable. I want one.

  9. nekosune said,
    April 2, 2008 @ 1:17 pm

    *giggles* okay Linden Labs, second life, very good ^_^

  10. haha said,
    April 2, 2008 @ 3:45 pm

    i think it’s half man, half bear-pig!

  11. WhiteRabbit said,
    April 2, 2008 @ 6:16 pm

    Not only is there a Second Life reference, but there is also a Half-Life one, as well: Dr. Eli Vance. I think it would have given it away, though, if he said something about Black Mesa in the article.

  12. Chaos said,
    April 3, 2008 @ 12:41 am

    Dr. Eli Vance? lol good pic

  13. Jmalmsten said,
    April 4, 2008 @ 11:41 am

    Excelzior!

  14. Harman Boparai said,
    April 5, 2008 @ 11:08 am

    I told ya it was real, half man half bear and half pig….!!

  15. lisa said,
    April 6, 2008 @ 5:51 am

    this is discustin its wrong if this is real its very wrong and the people who created it shoudl be assamed

  16. kaplan said,
    April 7, 2008 @ 5:28 pm

    its disgusting.. isn it … im with lisa … :( its horrible.

  17. Jack said,
    April 7, 2008 @ 6:12 pm

    It’s pretty clearly a joke. On maany levels. If you can’t tell, clearly, then you need to contact Dr. Kno about a transcranial multifection on your NIARB cavity due to a pseudo-pregnancy invested in your fertility closet.

  18. kels said,
    April 7, 2008 @ 6:25 pm

    haha. manbearpig. super awesome.

  19. Fun said,
    April 8, 2008 @ 2:22 am

    Yup, totally fake, if you enlarge the picture you can see that the man-bear-pig isn’t even in an enclosed environment, and there are people walking around in the background ;)

  20. Sean said,
    April 8, 2008 @ 2:32 am

    … I can’t see the bear in them, but that is a cute little pigbearman. What kind of bear do you think they used? Kodiak, Brown, etc.

  21. Kerri said,
    April 8, 2008 @ 1:33 pm

    Cmon!!! .. it’s obviously fake you silly people.. http://www.snopes.com/photos/arts/family.asp

  22. Alli said,
    April 8, 2008 @ 7:00 pm

    Awwww.
    What a cute humanbearpig.
    >.<

  23. Maox said,
    April 9, 2008 @ 4:30 am

    It’s tragic that so many people feel this incomprehensible urge to comment upon stuff like this being fake. It’s obvious to anyone with half a manbearpig-brain.

  24. Andrew Yates said,
    April 9, 2008 @ 7:56 am

    I like how this is our biggest story by page views. Truly, we have tapped a latent yet popular demand for manbearpig news.

  25. god said,
    April 9, 2008 @ 7:37 pm

    I’m taking it this is a joke…

  26. Kels said,
    April 9, 2008 @ 10:22 pm

    i think lisa would be more credible if she could spell :). fantastically disgusting, guys, truly. and i even fell for it at first!

  27. rookie23 said,
    April 9, 2008 @ 10:42 pm

    can you make “Spider-pig”? haha ^_^
    cool, awesome, gross!

  28. LD said,
    April 10, 2008 @ 12:27 am

    XD Very nice sculpting going on there. And an interesting take on what the hypothetical outcome would with a human dominate body form.

  29. Rajat said,
    April 10, 2008 @ 5:50 am

    LMAO… a good joke for sure… Will pass on this link to others and then discuss it with them to see how many believed it to be true.. ha ha..

  30. Tikuko said,
    April 10, 2008 @ 6:23 pm

    Not real. This was actually a sculpture — I found the site a while back

  31. A Great Joke said,
    April 11, 2008 @ 6:25 pm

    Man…The best joke ever regarding that art work. You took an artwork representing the fear of genetic engineering, made people think it was real (some stupid people) and thus afraid of said engineering, and you incorporated one of the best jokes from one of the best shows in the word in an incredible apt reference!

    Well played, chap.

  32. Andrew Yates said,
    April 11, 2008 @ 6:46 pm

    Don’t forget the best video game to make fun (Half Life) and the best video game to make fun of (Second Life).

  33. Josh Hill said,
    April 11, 2008 @ 6:48 pm

    My favorite part was the irony where I said “Induced pluripotent stem cells were used because of the ethical concern surrounding embryonic stem cells.”

  34. Rick said,
    April 12, 2008 @ 1:24 pm

    OMG ….Gore was right man-bear pig is hear and he will kill us all. Lets pray to the flying spaghetti monster . Cmon guys I’m serial !!! no one ever listens to me . lol

  35. josh said,
    April 14, 2008 @ 10:32 am

    Man i must be dumb, i was believing it but the doctors name raised some flags because i recognised it from Half-life. The sad part is I didn’t fully clue in until I read the comments.

  36. Gond said,
    April 14, 2008 @ 4:09 pm

    Looks more like a Mog. You remember the Mog, don’t you? “1/2 man… 1/2 dog. I’m my own best friend!”
    G.

  37. TheGabe said,
    April 14, 2008 @ 4:59 pm

    I am your manbearpig leader come from Mars to rule you once more! HAIL XENU!

  38. Jimmy said,
    April 14, 2008 @ 10:17 pm

    Eli Vance works for Black Mesa you fools!

    portal technology is next

  39. John said,
    April 14, 2008 @ 10:55 pm

    You’ve created simultaneously the smartest, most deadly, and most delicious land mammal ever…

    YOU MANIACS! How many men will lose their lives in a vain attempt to hunt down this mouthwatering killing machine? And it will learn from each encounter, and grow stronger - you’ve doomed us all.

  40. Andrew Yates said,
    April 14, 2008 @ 10:57 pm

    “YOU MANIACS! How many men will lose their lives in a vain attempt to hunt down this mouthwatering killing machine?”

    7.

  41. george said,
    April 15, 2008 @ 8:00 am

    FUCK YEAH I KNEW WE COULD DO IT

  42. kost said,
    April 15, 2008 @ 8:51 am

    The sad thing in this April Fools Prank is naming a DEAD scientist. Let us all put our head down to the great Dr. Eli Vance.. may you rest in peace..

  43. Adam said,
    April 15, 2008 @ 2:37 pm

    Yeah because San Francisco is in California…. I’m a Euro and the first to notice that :P

  44. Kyle B. Doeden said,
    April 15, 2008 @ 5:49 pm

    Ha, I remember whether this picture was or was not on the transhumanism page being a HUGE deal on wikipedia. Edit wars for months.

  45. Brandong said,
    April 15, 2008 @ 11:25 pm

    i think saw that statue is in a museum in brooklyn

  46. [Confirmed] Man Bear Pig Sighting in Wellston, Ohio, Appalachia! | Think Gene said,
    May 6, 2008 @ 5:38 pm

    [...] thinkgene website. today my students were surfing the web and found your man, bear, pig [editor: Man Bear Pig, April 1st 2008]. At first glance my students thought it was real. I encouraged them to read on and to do more [...]

  47. John C said,
    May 7, 2008 @ 4:53 am

    But on National Public Radio yesturday, there was a sober report on a sheep-goat chimera! It was called a geep.

  48. Kevin said,
    May 7, 2008 @ 4:55 am

    Thanks for the comment, John. The joke here is that the technology described in our manbearpig post is very real. It can be done.

  49. Paul Petersen said,
    May 9, 2008 @ 8:30 am

    I really don’t see the pig in this animal. I am serial! It seems like more of a pig/ man/ dog! It is still a hilarious picture.

  50. lacy said,
    May 12, 2008 @ 1:02 pm

    is this really real or what???!!!?!?!?!?!?!?!

  51. big daddy said,
    May 20, 2008 @ 5:02 pm

    Yes lacy, it is very real, why would you think its a joke?

  52. The Onion: Genetic Scientists Develop Sheep With Brain Of A Goat | Think Gene said,
    June 4, 2008 @ 8:47 pm

    [...] next they will make a Manbearpig… [...]

  53. jonathan said,
    June 18, 2008 @ 3:06 pm

    And people ask why people havent found a cure for cancer…. fucking scieentists..

  54. copycat said,
    June 19, 2008 @ 9:02 pm

    this crao iz so fucking nasty

  55. treytrey said,
    June 27, 2008 @ 4:07 am

    lol al gore…lol the end made me laugh

  56. New technique produces genetically identical stem cells | Think Gene said,
    July 2, 2008 @ 12:43 am

    [...] made mention of the techniques used in the earlier paper in an April Fools joke this year. When reading this press release, I first thought it must be incorrect when it says the [...]

  57. The_Musician said,
    July 7, 2008 @ 11:47 pm

    no guys its manbearpig im super duper serial!!

  58. liberty said,
    July 14, 2008 @ 3:48 pm

    im so serial right noww

  59. Jon said,
    July 14, 2008 @ 7:48 pm

    R U guys SUPER SERIAL about MANBEARPIG
    ?????????????????????????????????????????????

  60. Maox said,
    July 15, 2008 @ 12:34 pm

    No, but seriously, where do I get one of these? I need it to do my bidding. You know, fetching brains, eating babies and such.

  61. stagg said,
    July 22, 2008 @ 1:26 am

    hahahah manbear pig :P

    wtf is this real?

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