Breaking news: Think Gene has recently received a civilian report [edit: confirmed] of a Man Bear Pig sighting in Appalachian Ohio!

I would like to know the sponsoring agency for the 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 research.
Anyone who post things on the web has a civic duty to clairify and correct. People that just look at photos and headlines are mislead daily.
the internet’s main goal was not for entertainment…. but for knowledge. Leave sci fi to the movie industry.

kjl

Science Dept Chair
Wellston High School

kjl, as Senior Editor of ThinkGene, thank you for alerting The Internet regarding this important Man Bear Pig sighting in Wellston, Ohio. Please accept this Certificate of Sighting on behalf of The Internet and The Movie Industry as a token of our appreciation.

Please help us by ensuring that the fine students of Wellston High School of Wellston Ohio receive their certificate. Thank you.

–Andrew Yates

UPDATE

From Al Gore of manbearpig.net:

The manbearpig epidemic is of pandemic proportions. If there is anyone left alive in Wellston, Ohio please recommend that the school’s budget would be well spent on razorwire and a few of these
http://www.greatdreams.com/war/sherman_flamethrower.jpg

Anything to encourage the reporting of sightings to manbearpig.net and end the scourge of manbearpig. Your efforts are to be commended. Attached is teh official AlGore Seal of Approval.

your hero,
AlGore

P.S. Tipper says high school students shouldn’t be looking at pictures of naked manbearpigs. She says to please think of the children.

P.P.S. Give my best to Gene

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