In A First, Scientists Grow Human-Like Kidneys In Pig Embryos (Image:pixabay.com/photos/pigs)
Chinese scientists have succeeded in growing kidneys with human cells in pig embryos. It is revealed through a study in the journal Stell Stem Cell, published on Thursday.
The development is first in the world and hopes it could reduce the organ donation shortages in the future. But at the same time, according to experts, the study raises some ethical issues, especially since some human cells were also found in the pigs” brains.
The study named, Generation of a humanized mesonephros in pigs from induced pluripotent stem cells via embryo complementation, is published in the 9th issue of 30th volume of Cell Stem Cell, a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Cell Press, by a group of researchers from the Chinese Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health. The researchers are Jiaowei Wang, wenguang Xie, Nan Li, Miguel A Esteban, Zhen Dai, and Liangxue Lai.
They have focused on Kidneys since there are one of the first organs to develop, and the most commonly transplanted in human medicine, reported Times of India.
“Heterologous organ transplantation is an effective way of replacing organ function but is limited by severe organ shortage. Although generating human organs in other large mammals through embryo complementation would be a groundbreaking solution, it faces many challenges, especially the poor integration of human cells into the recipient tissues”, says the report.
“Pigs are a highly attractive target for growing human organs given their similarities with humans in physiology and organ size, as well as in embryonic development”, the report stated with graphical representations.
Comparing to the recent high-profile breakthroughs in the similar field in US, where genetically modified pig kidneys and even a heart has been transplanted inside humans, what comes now is a different approach.
The new paper “describes pioneering steps in a new approach to organ bioengineering using pigs as incubators for growing and cultivating human organs”, Times of India quoted Dusko Ilic, professor of stem cell sciences at King”s College London.
Cell Stem Cell is a broad-spectrum journal that covers the entire spectrum of stem cell biology. They covers a vast area of topics including stem cells, genome reprogramming, nuclear transfer technology, bioengineering, drug discovery, regenerative medicine, technical or resource-based innovations, and many more.
