If you’re like me, when you hear the term, "crime against nature," you think first of some perverse physical act that’s banned in 30 states but encouraged in New York and California.

Lord knows, there are enough crimes against nature to prove the notion of "natural law" once and for all.

What is remarkable about our day is the extent to which man will go in his effort to prove his innocence. Just as in the Garden of Eden when Eve passed the apple and Adam passed the buck, humanity is still locked in a state of permanent denial.

Of course, the easiest way to proclaim one’s normalcy is to do away with all laws. You cannot be proven guilty when there is no standard for conviction. And so, we have groups like NORML, NAMBLA and the like. But once you have a society where "anything goes," it seems everything can go terribly wrong.

Partial-birth abortion, same-sex marriage, bestiality on the Internet…in our hearts, we still know they’re wrong. But these days, nothing shocks us anymore. We’ve become accustomed to 16-year-old mass murderers, satanist celebrities and science as our god.

Which brings us to a new European patent that may still raise a few eyebrows. Maybe.

Last year, the Australian bio-tech firm, Amrad protected its process that creates cross-species embryos. Now, the patent that may lead to the development of a new species with DNA and organs from a variety of animals, including fish, goats, cattle, pigs, sheep, mice and, yes, humans has been purchased by an American firm, Chemicon Internaional.

Who knows what grotesque species may emerge from the lab? Can it reason? Would it have a soul? Even the concept of such experimentation insults the imagination.

While company spokesmen deny any intention to produce creatures containing both human and animal cells, they do admit to using it in the production of genetically altered mice.

Such organizations as Greenpeace, Genewatch and the Catholic Church are already on record opposing the development of a "man-imal."

But will anyone listen, this time?

4.9¢ long distance from WebToday: Online sign-up takes 30 seconds