in a very calm Science Times article about Chimeras:
A much greater chance of creating a viable chimeric creature would come from injecting human embryonic stem cells into a monkey or ape. For this reason the academy committee has firmly ruled out such experiments as unethical. But to continue a little on the path of fantasy, humans are still very similar to chimpanzees, their closest surviving cousins, and an embryo constructed of cells from each may be viable enough to be born.
This chimerical creature would probably not be as enjoyable as the chimeras of mythology but more of a problem human - a Caliban-like personage with bad manners and difficult habits.
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As I recall Caliban's mother was a witch and father was a sea monster which suggests no human DNA involved. I've always thought that the way people think about Caliban (e.g. as an enslaved stand-in for a West African) said as much about the reader as about the play. Thank you for this very interesting reference.
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