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First Human-Pig 'Chimera' Created in Milestone Study (theguardian.com)
Scientists have created a human-pig hybrid in a milestone study that raises the prospect of being able to grow human organs inside animals for use in transplants. From a report: It marks the first time that embryos combining two large, distantly-related species have been produced. The creation of this so-called chimera -- named after the cross-species beast of Greek mythology -- has been hailed as a significant first step towards generating human hearts, livers and kidneys from scratch. Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, who led the work on the part-pig, part-human embryos at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, said: "The ultimate goal is to grow functional and transplantable tissue or organs, but we are far away from that. This is an important first step." The study has reignited ethical concerns that have threatened to overshadow the field's clinical promise. The work inevitably raises the spectre of intelligent animals with humanised brains and also the potential for bizarre hybrid creatures to be accidentally released into the wild. The US National Institutes of Health (NIH) placed a moratorium on funding for the controversial experiments last year while these risks were considered.
Many of the issues they appear to be studying do not require the use of human cells. For example, they talk about not knowing what would happen if the animal were to complete gestation since pigs only gestate for 112 days, but human embryos gestate for 9 months.
Well, then use two different animals that have vastly different gestation periods, and see what happens. You don't need to use human cells to find that out.
They also talk about not knowing whether or not the cells would migrate to the brain.
Again, use something else. Like, a mouse and an elephant. Or whatever.
It seems premature to be using human cells in these experiments if they haven't already answered these questions with other animal chimeras.
Which makes me wonder, why are they using human cells at all? Are they just going for headlines or what?