They create for the first time human-sheep embryos in the laboratory to cultivate human organs

Scientists have achieved what until recently seemed an authentic chimera: the first hybrid of sheep-human embryos. For what? What has been achieved is the first and hypothetical step to the cultivation of organs of transplants within animals or the ability to genetically adapt compatible organs.

With that final goal in mind, researchers at Stanford University created the first inter-species laboratory hybrid, introducing human stem cells into sheep embryos, and resulting in a creature that is more than 99% sheep, but also a small human part

The human portion of the embryos created in the experiment (before they were destroyed after 28 days) was extremely small, but the simple fact that it exists is what generates debate and controversy in this field of research. As explained by the stem cell biologist Hiro Nakauchi:

So far, the contribution of human cells is very small. It looks nothing like a pig with a human face or a human brain, but it is a first step.

The research is based on previous experiments conducted by some members of the same Nakauchi team, who managed to grow human cells inside pig embryos at an early stage in the laboratory, creating pig and human hybrids that the researchers described as interspecies chimeras.

Obviously, it is very possible that many of those who are reading the news think about the typical "mad scientist" of literature or cinema, but as the researchers explain, these experiments could one day provide a unique solution for the thousands of people in the world. waiting lists of organ donations that save lives, most of which die before obtaining compatible organs. According to the research team:

Even today the best combined organs, except if they come from identical twins, do not last long because over time the immune system attacks them continuously.

Although very distant, the idea is that the organs produced in these hybrids could be a way to produce enough supply to satisfy the demand, transplanting, for example, a hybrid pancreas of a pig or a sheep, to a patient about to die. In order for the transplant to work, the researchers think that at least 1% of the cells of the embryo would need to be human, which means that these first steps demonstrated in the sheep are still very preliminary.

Of course, all this leads to the same common place in the debate: the work ethic. Increasing the human proportion in the mixture of hybrids also inevitably increases ethical doubts about the type of creature that is being created, apparently, for the sole purpose of harvesting its essential organs.

The answer? The same researchers do not agree, but believe that it should not be ruled out, given that, only in the United States, every 10 minutes someone is added to a waiting list of transplants. [National Geographic, The Guardian]