The image shows a human kidney in red, made up mostly of human cells inside a pig embryo.
Scientists have managed to develop kidneys in pig embryos that contain more human cells. This is important research for future kidney and other organ transplants in humans.
According to the study published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, this technique involved changing the genetic structure of the pig embryo and then implanting human cells into it. This created a kidney inside the animal that contained mostly human cells. Scientists say this is the first time a human organ has been developed within another species.
Some genetic changes have been made to pigs
Miguel Esteban, a scientist at the Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health, said that this work took us five years. He explained that we first made some genetic changes to the pig to make room for the growth of human cells. Human cells were also modified so that they could survive in a different environment.
Some genetic changes have been made to pigs to create space for human cells to grow.
Some genetic changes have been made to pigs to create space for human cells to grow.
Human and pig DNA were mixed
Esteban says our ultimate goal is to produce fully transplant-ready organs. In addition to the kidneys, the team is also working on the development of organs such as the heart and pancreas in pig embryos.
Jun Wu, an associate professor at the University of Texas who has worked on mixing human and pig DNA, said this research is important. It contains about 60% human cells, while the proportion of human cells in our study was very low.
It is natural to raise ethical questions about the use of animals.
This type of research raises ethical questions. Experts say activists may raise questions about animal behavior being affected by such experiments. There may be concerns about increasing use not only for kidney development but also for the development of many other organs.
