INTERSPECIES REPRODUCTION - XENOGENIC DESIRE AND THE FEMINIST IMPLICATIONS OF HYBRIDS

This article explores the image of interspecies reproduction, arguably the most disturbing of the range of contemporary images df reproducti ve technology, as both a metaphor of some historical standing and as a new, and troubling, medical/scientific capability. Moving from the 19 94 report of the Human Embryo Research Panel of the NIH, also known as the Muller Panel, through a range of sites - natural history, popular science writing, social critique, fiction, feminist theory and scienc e studies - the article explores the context in which our current scie ntific perspective on interspecies reproduction is constructed. The st udy demonstrates the value of contextualizing - both in terms of histo ry and literature - even the most seemingly transparent scientific or medical intervention, in order to achieve the fullest understanding of its implications. A concluding consideration of the philosophical/the oretical construction of interspecies reproduction in the present (pos tmodern) moment explores its implications for our understanding of the feminist critique of science.