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But Xu argues that the yuck factor is not a sound basis for deducing what's ethical and what's not.

Xu is lead author on a paper published last month that uses the jellyfish as a case study to explore ethical considerations that have been or should be applied to the creation of such machine-invertebrate hybrids, and she makes recommendations for future guidelines she and her colleagues believe should be developed.

Xu told Salon that there are no applications of research with jellyfish she can think of that she'd see as unethical.

Xu, meanwhile, says that decision-making or desire, hallmarks of autonomy, are not something her invertebrate subjects experience.

"If the animals are in a stressful environment," Xu said of her jellyfish, "and they don't feel like... they're living in an environment that is conducive to reproduction, then they won't reproduce."