Scientists have created the first human-pig embryos

Science Adina Camarasu
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Shockingly, scientists have created the first chimera embryos containing human and pig cells, according to a study published on Thursday in the journal Cell.

This is a first step towards the development of human organs from animals, which could then be harvested and implanted in patients.

Humans to be implanted animal organs?!

This is ‘an important first step’, said a professor at Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, the leading author of the study.

The ultimate goal is to cultivate tissues or organs from the animals and implant them to humans.

This experiment lasted about 4 years and involved about 1,500 embryos collected from pigs.

The scientists implanted human progenitor cells, capable of turning into any tissue, in pig embryos.

Then, the human-pig embryos were transferred into the uteri of sows.

Amazingly, the human cells were not rejected because they were injected into the animal at a very early stage, in the fifth or sixth day of development.

Researchers have allowed these embryos to develop only four weeks, as they were required by the regulations.

However, they noted that the human cells began to form muscle tissues.

The experiment was not carried all the way to the end.

The birth of partially human piglets is a very controversial topic that raises major ethical problems.

Although the researchers have stated that the share of human cells was low, the subject was still not very well received.

A previous experiment allowed the development of a pancreas, a heart and eyes, collecting rat embryos and implanting them into mice.

So, it is possible indeed for an animal to carry the organs of another animal, coming from a different species.