Did Ancient Greeks Perform Human-Animal Experiments Too?
In a 1990 film, Death Warrant, Jean Claude Van Damme goes undercover into a prison where inmates are killed and their organs sold. This is not a new idea.
[From article]
Scientists in the United States are trying to grow human organs inside pigs.
They have injected human stem cells into pig embryos to produce human-pig embryos known as chimeras.
The embryos are part of research aimed at overcoming the worldwide shortage of transplant organs.
The team from University of California, Davis says they should look and behave like normal pigs except that one organ will be composed of human cells.
The human-pig chimeric embryos are being allowed to develop in the sows for 28 days before the pregnancies are terminated and the tissue removed for analysis.
[. . .]
Pablo Ross, a reproductive biologist who is leading the research told me: "Our hope is that this pig embryo will develop normally but the pancreas will be made almost exclusively out of human cells and could be compatible with a patient for transplantation."
But the work is controversial. Last year, the main US medical research agency, the National Institutes of Health, imposed a moratorium on funding such experiments.
[. . .]
His team has previously injected human stem cells into pig embryos but without first creating the genetic niche. Prof Ross said although they later found human cells in several parts of the developing foetus, they "struggled to compete" with the pig cells. By deleting a key gene involved in the creation of the pig pancreas, they hope the human cells will have more success creating a human-like pancreas.
Other teams in the United States have created human-pig chimeric embryos but none has allowed the foetuses to be born.
[. . .]
Walter Low, professor in the department of neurosurgery, University of Minnesota, said pigs were an ideal "biological incubator" for growing human organs, and could potentially be used to create not just a pancreas but hearts, livers, kidneys, lungs and corneas.
He said if the iPS cells were taken from a patient needing a transplant then these could be injected in a pig embryo which had the key genes deleted for creating the required organ, such as the liver: "The organ would be an exact genetic copy of your liver but a much younger and healthier version and you would not need to take immunosuppressive drugs which carry side-effects."
But Prof Low stressed that the research, using another form of gene editing called TALENs, was still at the preliminary stages, trying to identify the target genes which must be removed in order to prevent the pig from developing a particular organ.
His team is also trying to create dopamine-producing human neurons from chimeric embryos to treat patients with Parkinson's disease.
[. . .]
In the mid-90s there were hopes that genetically modified pigs might provide an endless supply of organs for patients, and that cross-species transplants were not far off.
But clinical trials stalled because of fears that humans might be infected with animal viruses.
Last year, a team at Harvard Medical School used CRISPR gene editing to remove more than 60 copies of a pig retrovirus.
Prof George Church, who led the research, told me: "It opens up the possibility of not just transplantation from pigs to humans but the whole idea that a pig organ is perfectible.
"Gene editing could ensure the organs are very clean, available on demand and healthy, so they could be superior to human donor organs."
[. . .]
But organisations campaigning for an end to factory farming are dismayed at the thought of organ farms.
Peter Stevenson, from Compassion in World Farming, told me: "I'm nervous about opening up a new source of animal suffering. Let's first get many more people to donate organs. If there is still a shortage after that, we can consider using pigs, but on the basis that we eat less meat so that there is no overall increase in the number of pigs being used for human purposes."
In Greek mythology, chimeras were fire-breathing monsters composed of several animals - part lion, goat and snake. The scientific teams believe human-pig chimeras should look and behave like normal pigs except that one organ will be composed of human cells.
http://www.bbc.com/news/health-36437428
Scientists grow human organs for transplant inside pigs
By Fergus Walsh
Medical correspondent
June 5, 2016
* * *
Supporters claim it could spell an end to the shortage of donor organs – which means 1,000 people in the UK die every year while waiting for a transplant.
Supporters claim it could spell an end to the shortage of donor organs – which means 1,000 people in the UK die every year while waiting for a transplant.
Cambridge, MA City Council remains non committal, issuing no comment.
Pig-human embryos have been created in a dramatic bid to solve the organ transplant shortage.
Scientists have successfully combined human stem cells and pig DNA - with the aim of growing a human organ inside a pig.
But critics say the development of such hybrids is ‘offensive to human dignity’.
The ‘chimera’ embryos have been implanted in living sows and allowed to grow for 28 days before being tested and destroyed.
Supporters claim it could spell an end to the shortage of donor organs – which means 1,000 people in the UK die every year while waiting for a transplant.
But others have described it as terrifying ‘Frankenscience’.
The technique is being trialled on pig foetuses by US scientists who are experimenting with the genes involved in creating a pancreas.
Strict rules mean that, for now, the embryos cannot be matured past 28 days and no birth of a hybrid animal is allowed.
[. . .]
The latest breakthrough has been made at the University of California, Davis, where scientists have implanted pig-human hybrids into sows. Doctors have long discussed using pigs for human transplants, as the organs are roughly the same size as a human’s.
But they have repeatedly failed to overcome two hurdles – that the human body would instantly reject the foreign tissue, and that there is a risk of passing animal viruses into people.
[. . .]
Those challenges have been surpassed by gene-editing technology called CRISPR, which allows scientists to alter DNA with remarkable precision.
They have worked out how to remove from a strand of pig DNA the exact gene responsible for making a pancreas. This creates a void, which they hope will be filled when they inject the embryo with human ‘blank’ stem cells, capable of forming any form of tissue.
The hybrid embryo is then implanted into an adult sow – and as it grows into a foetus it develops a human pancreas.
Dr Pablo Ross, leading the research, told BBC Panorama: ‘Our hope is that this pig embryo will develop normally but the pancreas will be made almost exclusively out of human cells and could be compatible with a patient for transplantation.’
But the work is intensely controversial. The main concern is that the human stem cells might migrate to the developing pig’s brain, giving it some human characteristics.
Dr Ross insists: ‘We think there is very low potential for a human brain to grow, but this is something we will be investigating.’
[. . .]
Professor Walter Low of the University of Minnesota, which is researching a similar project, said pigs were an ideal ‘biological incubator’, adding: ‘The organ would be an exact genetic copy of your liver [for example] but a much younger and healthier version and you would not need to take immunosuppressive drugs which carry side-effects.’
Professor Low admitted that human cells spreading to the brain was a concerning prospect, but he added: ‘With every organ we will look at what’s happening in the brain and if we find that it’s too human-like, then we won’t let those foetuses be born.’
But Josephine Quintavalle, of campaign group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said: ‘These experiments are absolutely offensive to human dignity, and no utilitarian justification whatsoever can ever bypass such opposition. We are absolutely horrified at this arrogance.’
Professor Stuart Newman, of New York Medical College, said: ‘You’re getting into unsettling ground that I think is damaging to our sense of humanity.’
Peta UK’s Julia Baines condemned the research as ‘Frankenscience’, adding: ‘Creating human-animal hybrids is bad for people and worse for animals.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3626562/Scientists-let-hybrid-embryos-develop-lab-28-days-bid-solve-transplant-shortage.html
Human organs grown in pigs: Scientists let hybrid embryos develop in lab for 28 days in bid to solve transplant shortage
Scientists have successfully combined human stem cells and pig DNA
Embryos put in living pigs and made to grow for 28 days before destroyed
Critics have dubbed it ‘Frankenscience’ and ‘offensive to human dignity’
1,000 people in the UK die every year while waiting for a organ transplant
By BEN SPENCER MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 17:57 EST, 5 June 2016 | UPDATED: 13:21 EST, 6 June 2016
Scientists have successfully combined human stem cells and pig DNA - with the aim of growing a human organ inside a pig.
But critics say the development of such hybrids is ‘offensive to human dignity’.
The ‘chimera’ embryos have been implanted in living sows and allowed to grow for 28 days before being tested and destroyed.
Supporters claim it could spell an end to the shortage of donor organs – which means 1,000 people in the UK die every year while waiting for a transplant.
But others have described it as terrifying ‘Frankenscience’.
The technique is being trialled on pig foetuses by US scientists who are experimenting with the genes involved in creating a pancreas.
Strict rules mean that, for now, the embryos cannot be matured past 28 days and no birth of a hybrid animal is allowed.
[. . .]
The latest breakthrough has been made at the University of California, Davis, where scientists have implanted pig-human hybrids into sows. Doctors have long discussed using pigs for human transplants, as the organs are roughly the same size as a human’s.
But they have repeatedly failed to overcome two hurdles – that the human body would instantly reject the foreign tissue, and that there is a risk of passing animal viruses into people.
[. . .]
Those challenges have been surpassed by gene-editing technology called CRISPR, which allows scientists to alter DNA with remarkable precision.
They have worked out how to remove from a strand of pig DNA the exact gene responsible for making a pancreas. This creates a void, which they hope will be filled when they inject the embryo with human ‘blank’ stem cells, capable of forming any form of tissue.
The hybrid embryo is then implanted into an adult sow – and as it grows into a foetus it develops a human pancreas.
Dr Pablo Ross, leading the research, told BBC Panorama: ‘Our hope is that this pig embryo will develop normally but the pancreas will be made almost exclusively out of human cells and could be compatible with a patient for transplantation.’
But the work is intensely controversial. The main concern is that the human stem cells might migrate to the developing pig’s brain, giving it some human characteristics.
Dr Ross insists: ‘We think there is very low potential for a human brain to grow, but this is something we will be investigating.’
[. . .]
Professor Walter Low of the University of Minnesota, which is researching a similar project, said pigs were an ideal ‘biological incubator’, adding: ‘The organ would be an exact genetic copy of your liver [for example] but a much younger and healthier version and you would not need to take immunosuppressive drugs which carry side-effects.’
Professor Low admitted that human cells spreading to the brain was a concerning prospect, but he added: ‘With every organ we will look at what’s happening in the brain and if we find that it’s too human-like, then we won’t let those foetuses be born.’
But Josephine Quintavalle, of campaign group Comment on Reproductive Ethics, said: ‘These experiments are absolutely offensive to human dignity, and no utilitarian justification whatsoever can ever bypass such opposition. We are absolutely horrified at this arrogance.’
Professor Stuart Newman, of New York Medical College, said: ‘You’re getting into unsettling ground that I think is damaging to our sense of humanity.’
Peta UK’s Julia Baines condemned the research as ‘Frankenscience’, adding: ‘Creating human-animal hybrids is bad for people and worse for animals.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3626562/Scientists-let-hybrid-embryos-develop-lab-28-days-bid-solve-transplant-shortage.html
Human organs grown in pigs: Scientists let hybrid embryos develop in lab for 28 days in bid to solve transplant shortage
Scientists have successfully combined human stem cells and pig DNA
Embryos put in living pigs and made to grow for 28 days before destroyed
Critics have dubbed it ‘Frankenscience’ and ‘offensive to human dignity’
1,000 people in the UK die every year while waiting for a organ transplant
By BEN SPENCER MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT FOR THE DAILY MAIL
PUBLISHED: 17:57 EST, 5 June 2016 | UPDATED: 13:21 EST, 6 June 2016
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