An unknown creature, a hybrid of a human and a pig, appeared in scientific laboratories. Scientists have grown the world's first chimera embryos consisting of human and pig cells. The organs of these mammals have long been used in medicine for human transplantation. In addition, tests of chemicals and drugs are often carried out on their biomaterial. The chimeras created in the laboratory will soon take part in the testing of medicines. They will be the last step before moving on to human testing. But what are the consequences of such daring experiments with nature? Do we have the right to create new species?
The starting point for the experiment was a pig embryo, experts studied their genome up and down and found that the DNA of humans and pigs is very similar to humans.
For the most part, we are similar: lungs, stomach, heart, vascular structure, pancreas. Even the functioning of these organs is very similar in our country. Drugs such as insulin, which is needed for diabetics, were obtained from the pancreas of pigs.
American scientists worked on the technology of artificial insemination. Human and animal cells were simultaneously implanted into the sow's body, and both of them successfully took root. However, out of 2 thousand hybrid embryos, only 186 survived.
They take a pig embryo and a human embryo and in the early stages they are destroyed and mixed and a chimera is obtained, in which there are chromosomes from the first ancestor and from the second.
Embryo of a chimera of a pig and a human.
This embryo of a piglet only looks ordinary. In fact, this is a real chimera, it is hard to believe, but at least one of the organs of the surviving hybrid (kidney, liver or pancreas) consists exclusively of human cells. Have geneticists already managed to create a whole farm for growing donor organs?
The difference in organ sizes will not be very large. The process of rejection will be less pronounced due to the fact that we have very many proteins that are similar, everything will happen in the same way if the donor was a human.
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In fact, American scientists have done incredible things. They made human cells develop in the pig's body. However, the life of such a pigman was short-lived, the chimera was allowed to live only 1 month, and then she was killed (for ethical reasons).
The expediency of this experiment is questioned by many. Some scientists fear that the implanted human cells may migrate into the brain of a developing embryo and, as a result, instead of a hybrid donor, we will get a real monster.
In addition, such experiments jeopardize the unique human genome, according to some experts, it may be lost forever if scientists continue in the same spirit.