This group of scientists from all over the United States who refused to reveal their identities for fear of ethical persecution are hoping that their research in developing these embryos that are part human and part animal- which they call chimeras- may be able to save lives and treat a wide range of diseases.
One theory for these chimeras is that it could pave the way for animals to be bred with human organs and used for transplant to terminally-ill patients.
However, bioethicists and scientists have mixed reactions with majority that it has crossed the line.
“You’re getting into unsettling ground that I think is damaging to our sense of humanity,” according to Stuart Newman, a professor of cell biology and anatomy at the New York Medical College.
The tests are intensely sensitive that the National Institutes for Health recently imposed an indefinite suspension in funding these experiments as officials continue to explore the ethical issues raised regarding the experiments.
One of the biologists involved in the experiment claimed that these chimeras are not being developed for them to create monstrous creatures, but are aimed at developing solutions with a biomedical purpose.
The NIH may soon announce how they would be able to handle future requests for funding experiments of this nature.
The researchers are using gene-editing processes to develop the interspecies experiment like removing the gene that pig embryos need to produce a pancreas and working under an elaborate microscope, a small hole is created by laser in the embryo’s outer membrane and injects a lab-synthesized molecule to delete the pancreas gene.
After the DNA is edited, another hole is created and a human induced pluripotent stem cell is inserted into the pig’s embryo and just like human embryonic stem cells, they can develop into any kind of cell in the body, which researchers hope that the human stem cells could replace the void in the pig’s embryo to develop a human pancreas.
This gene editing process reduces the risk of rejection of the new organ, but for the embryo to develop an organ a chimera needs to be placed inside the womb of adult pigs.
They are still uncertain, however, as to the long-term effects of this process and what other side effects it may cause, as well as the bio-ethic principles that they may encounter as a result of the experiments.
Image Credit: Jeannie Phan – NPR
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