American scientists create chimeras to save people

Pablo Ross in his laboratory at work

A group of American scientists is working on the creation of chimeric organisms — embryos, one part of which is taken from humans, and the other from animals. The goals of these studies are to develop new methods of dealing with serious human diseases (creating genetically modified animals to study the course of diseases), and, in the long term, create animals in which to grow human organs.

Xenotransplantation , that is, the transplantation of organs and tissues from an organism of one biological species into an organism of another biological species, is an old dream of physicians. If it were possible to transplant a human heart that grew up in an animal, the dying person would not need to wait weeks and months in the queue for a suitable donor to appear. But for now, all that has been achieved is a transplant of a pig's heart to a baboon .
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Some scientists see a way out in gene modification and so pretty close to human animals so that they can serve as suppliers of organs. But this area of ​​research causes so much controversy that it becomes almost impossible to find funding. The National Institutes of Health (an institution of the United States Department of Health) even imposed a moratorium on financing such developments.


In the feature film "The Island" the situation was even worse

But scientists do not give up. Pablo Ross, a specialist in reproductive biology, states: “We are not aiming at creating a chimera simply because we need some kind of monster. We do this for biomedical purposes. ” In his laboratory, Ross is trying to create a pancreas that could be transplanted, for example, to patients with diabetes.

First, it removes from the pig embryos the gene they need to create the pancreas. To do this, using a laser in the outer membrane of the embryo, a hole is made through which a specially synthesized substance is introduced to remove this gene.

Then, the human iridescent stem cells are introduced through another hole, in the hope that the cells will fill the absence of the porcine pancreas in the embryo and grow the human gland. After that, the edited embryo is placed in the pig's uterus. Since stem cells are made from the tissues of the person himself, in case of successful growth of the pancreas, his body will not reject the organ after transplantation.

So far, scientists have been waiting for 28 days from the moment the embryos are placed in the uterus, when they begin to form the beginnings of organs, remove them and study them under a microscope.

An ethical problem arises because stem cells, theoretically, can create just about anything. What happens if they grow a pig human brain? Can pigs suddenly find a consciousness close to man? This is what concerns Professor Stuart Newman of cell biology and anatomy at New York College of Medicine.

“We are embarking on a shaky ground that can damage our humanity,” says Newman. - And if you get a pig with a human brain, it can develop both human consciousness and human needs. We do not know for sure. And if two chimera pigs mate, a female pig in the uterus can begin to develop a human embryo. ” Or, the professor worries, in general, some kind of a hybrid of a man and a pig.

“Another problem that has bothered many is that there is something sacred about what it means to be human, expressed in our genes,” said Jason Robert, a bioethics expert at their state university in Arizona. And that the introduction of this information into the organism of animals, and the possible transfer of human capabilities to them, may be a kind of violation of this sacredness. In a sense, it is even a game of God. ”

Ross does not believe that he plays God. “There is nothing close to this. We simply use the technologies we have developed to improve people's lives. ” He explains that he does not allow embryos to develop for more than 28 days, and that if the experiment goes wrong, it can always be stopped. In addition, you can not give chimeras to mate.

Another innovative way to create new organs for transplantation is to grow them in vitro. The laboratory has already managed to grow human hearts, which even made them beat .