Should scientists be allowed to create human-animal embryos for research? Should they ever! Health benefits aside, just think of the fun we could have making big hairy man-monkeys or babies with gigantic elephant-like noses that crawled around on the floor doing the hoovering.
Sadly though, these are precisely the kind of views that won’t be finding expression at the Cheltenham Science Festival (June 4-8, tickets free to pound;15). Instead, scientific big brains such as Robert Winston and rent-an-infidel Richard Dawkins will be congregating to discuss meaty issues such as DNA research, with barely a mention of human-baboon hybrids.
There’ll also be promising sideshows from the likes of Richard Hammond (“the science of cars” ... although this may be familiar to anyone who’s ever taken a driving test) and Tony Robinson, cashing in on that interminable bone-bothering that Time Team viewers find so fascinating.
Also on the line-up are “the science of cocktails” and “Sperm Warfare: an entertaining exploration into the devious tricks used by cells, organs and bodies to win the race to fertilisation”, taking place in the saucy environs of Cheltenham Town Hall.
www.cheltenhamfestivals.comwhats_onscience_festival.html.
