2023-09-11 10:36:56
Chinese researchers have succeeded in growing a human kidney in a pig for 28 days. China Science Net reported that scientists have achieved this feat for the first time in the world. While this scientific achievement is reassuring for the long-awaited organ transplants, it raises many ethical questions.
Researchers at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health are behind the discovery. Their study has been published in full in the journal Cell Stem Cell. These Chinese researchers have shown that human organs can be grown in pigs through genetic modification. The gene editing technology CRISPR was used for this.
The kidney is the most frequently transplanted organ in humans. However, availability of kidneys according to demand is always a challenge. It is also in such a situation that the possibility of artificially developing organs other than humans is sought. According to the study of Chinese researchers, if human organs can be grown by making genetic changes in the embryos of large mammals, it can also be a solution to the shortage of organs.
The study was conducted on nearly 1,800 pig embryos. Five of these embryos succeeded in developing a human organ at an early stage. Kidneys grown in pig embryos contained 50 to 60 percent human cells. The scientists also explain that the development of the embryos was terminated at 28 days due to ethical issues.
Despite the success of this experiment, the idea of growing organs in animals for humans is still in its infancy. This experiment faces many ethical and scientific challenges. A human kidney successfully developed in a pig embryo also has pig blood vessels. This is to prevent the pig from excreting its body. Such challenges can only be overcome through more sophisticated genetic engineering.
Recently, researchers at New York University have made another significant achievement. A genetically modified pig’s kidney was transplanted into the body of a brain-dead man last month. The surgery was performed by doctors at New York University Langone Health. This organ worked successfully for more than 32 days.
English Summary: World’s First Human-like Kidneys in grown Pigs
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