SCI Human-pig HYBRID? Scientists hoping to create part man, part pig organs

[Melodi]

And in other weird science news today we have this...much better seen at link with all the photos - and remember the Express is a Tabloid which means "trust but verify" ....

Human-pig HYBRID? Scientists hoping to create part man, part pig organs
A HYBRID human-pig embryo has been injected into a sow’s womb as scientists push the ethical boundaries of science in the hope that they can create lifesaving donor organs.
By Sean Martin
PUBLISHED: 11:58, Thu, Jan 26, 2017 | UPDATED: 14:08, Thu, Jan 26, 2017

Scientists from the Salk Institute – a biological research organisation in California – have taken cells from pigs and people to create an embryo that was then inserted into a female pig.

As part of initial experiments, several different types of human cells were inserted into pig embryos in petri dishes to determine which cells were the best match for the pig embryo.

The human cells which worked best with the pigs’ were infant ones which have the potential to develop into all adult cell types – known as a pluripotent cell.

The cells that survived eventually formed a human/pig embryo, which were then injected into female pigs and allowed to develop for around a month.


Lead author of the research, Izpisua Belmonte, told Futurism: “This is long enough for us to try to understand how the human and pig cells mix together early on without raising ethical concerns about mature chimeric animals.”

However, even the strongest surviving cells were relatively weak, but at this stage it is more of a trial and error process, the scientists pointed out.

Dr Belmonte: “At this point, we wanted to know whether human cells can contribute at all to address the ‘yes or no’ question.

juan belmonteJuan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte
Scientists merging human and pig cells

“Now that we know the answer is yes, our next challenge is to improve efficiency and guide the human cells into forming a particular organ in pigs.”

To do this, the researchers will turn to genetic modification to edit pig genomes so that they can fit human cells in.

The team are now on the brink of creating a genetic chimera – an organism made up of cells from multiple species’ DNA – that is part human, part pig.

The hope is that the scientists will eventually be able to grow organs in pigs that will be suitable for human use via transplants.

With a global organ donor shortage, scientists have identified pigs as an ideal candidate to help as their organs, specifically the heart and kidneys, are very similar to that of a humans.

man pigGETTY
Could it lead to a Frankenstein-style monstrosity?

As such, scientists are hoping to grow organs that are part human, part pig which can then be transferred to a patient.

Dr Belmonte: “The ultimate goal is to grow functional and transplantable tissue or organs, but we are far away from that.”

However, he added: “This is an important first step.”
http://www.express.co.uk/news/science/759162/Human-pig-HYBRID-organs-transplant

 

[Snyper]

Are they trying to clone Michael Moore?
Isn't one enough?

 

[Yogizorch]

They've been working on this since Seinfeld.

 

[naturallysweet]

God help us, nooooo!!! This is the creation of a slave race that has no rights.

 

[TheSearcher]

We were warned. Such a slippery slope...

 

[Dozdoats]

I thought Al Gore already was the ManBearPig.... http://southpark.wikia.com/wiki/Manbearpig_(character)

 

[Melodi]

Human-Pig Hybrid Created in the Lab—Here Are the Facts
Scientists hope the chimera embryos represent key steps toward life-saving lab-grown organs.

Picture of a human, pig embryo
View Images

This pig embryo was injected with human cells early in its development and grew to be four weeks old.
Photograph courtesy Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte
By Erin Blakemore

PUBLISHED January 26, 2017

In a remarkable—if likely controversial—feat, scientists announced today that they have created the first successful human-animal hybrids. The project proves that human cells can be introduced into a non-human organism, survive, and even grow inside a host animal, in this case, pigs.

This biomedical advance has long been a dream and a quandary for scientists hoping to address a critical shortage of donor organs.

Every ten minutes, a person is added to the national waiting list for organ transplants. And every day, 22 people on that list die without the organ they need. What if, rather than relying on a generous donor, you could grow a custom organ inside an animal instead?


Human blood filters through pig lungs in the lab of Lars Burdorf at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Thousands of people die every year for lack of transplantable human organs. Scientists are experimenting with a technique called CRISPR to rid pig organs of viruses that harm humans.

That’s now one step closer to reality, an international team of researchers led by the Salk Institute reports in the journal Cell. The team created what’s known scientifically as a chimera: an organism that contains cells from two different species. (Read more about the DNA revolution in National Geographic magazine.)

In the past, human-animal chimeras have been beyond reach. Such experiments are currently ineligible for public funding in the United States (so far, the Salk team has relied on private donors for the chimera project). Public opinion, too, has hampered the creation of organisms that are part human, part animal.

But for lead study author Jun Wu of the Salk Institute, we need only look to mythical chimeras—like the human-bird hybrids we know as angels—for a different perspective.

“In ancient civilizations, chimeras were associated with God,” he says, and our ancestors thought “the chimeric form can guard humans.” In a sense, that’s what the team hopes human-animal hybrids will one day do.
Building a Chimera

There are two ways to make a chimera. The first is to introduce the organs of one animal into another—a risky proposition, because the host’s immune system may cause the organ to be rejected.

The other method is to begin at the embryonic level, introducing one animal’s cells into the embryo of another and letting them grow together into a hybrid.

It sounds weird, but it’s an ingenious way to eventually solve a number of vexing biological problems with lab-grown organs.

When scientists discovered stem cells, the master cells that can produce any kind of body tissue, they seemed to contain infinite scientific promise. But convincing those cells to grow into the right kinds of tissues and organs is difficult.

Cells must survive in Petri dishes. Scientists have to use scaffolds to make sure the organs grow into the right shapes. And often, patients must undergo painful and invasive procedures to harvest the tissues needed to kick off the process.

At first, Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, a professor in the Salk Institute’s Gene Expression Laboratory, thought the concept of using a host embryo to grow organs seemed straightforward enough. However, it took Belmonte and more than 40 collaborators four years to figure out how to make a human-animal chimera.

To do so, the team piggybacked off prior chimera research conducted on mice and rats.

Picture of a rat combined with a mouse
View Images

This one-year-old chimera sprang from a mouse injected with rat stem cells.
Photograph courtesy Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte

Other scientists had already figured out how to grow the pancreatic tissue of a rat inside a mouse. On Wednesday, that team announced that mouse pancreases grown inside rats successfully treated diabetes when parts of the healthy organs were transplanted into diseased mice.

The Salk-led group took the concept one step further, using the genome editing tool called CRISPR to hack into mouse blastocysts—the precursors of embryos. There, they deleted genes that mice need to grow certain organs. When they introduced rat stem cells capable of producing those organs, those cells flourished.

The mice that resulted managed to live into adulthood. Some even grew gall bladders, which haven’t been part of the species for 18 million years.
Rejection Risk

The team then took stem cells from rats and injected them into pig blastocysts. This version failed—not surprisingly, since rats and pigs have dramatically different gestation times and evolutionary ancestors.

But pigs have a notable similarity to humans. Though they take less time to gestate, their organs look a lot like ours.

Not that these similarities made the task any easier. The team discovered that, in order to introduce human cells into the pigs without killing them, they had to get the timing just right.

“We tried three different types of human cells, essentially representing three different times” in the developmental process, explains Jun Wu, a Salk Institute scientist and the paper’s first author. Through trial and error, they learned that naïve pluripotent cells—stem cells with unlimited potential—didn’t survive as well as ones that had developed a bit more.

When those just-right human cells were injected into the pig embryos, the embryos survived. Then they were put into adult pigs, which carried the embryos for between three and four weeks before they were removed and analyzed.

In all, the team created 186 later-stage chimeric embryos that survived, says Wu, and “we estimate [each had] about one in 100,000 human cells.”

Picture of a human cell being injected into a pig blastocyst
View Images

An image of a pig blastocyst being injected with human cells.
Photograph courtesy Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte

That’s a low percentage—and it could present a problem for the method in the long run, says Ke Cheng, a stem cell expert at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and North Carolina State University.

The human tissue appears to slow the growth of the embryo, notes Cheng, and organs grown from such embryos as they develop now would likely be rejected by humans, since they would contain so much pig tissue.

The next big step, says Cheng, is to figure out whether it's possible to increase the number of human cells the embryos can tolerate. The current method is a start, but it still isn't clear if that hurdle can be overcome.

Belmonte agrees, noting that it could take years to use the process to create functioning human organs. The technique could be put to use much sooner as a way to study human embryo development and understand disease. And those real-time insights could be just as valuable as the ability to grow an organ.

Even at this early stage, Cheng calls the work a breakthrough: “There are other steps to take,” he concedes. “But it’s intriguing. Very intriguing.”
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/...ws-humanpig&utm_campaign=Content&sf52887636=1

 

[Avatar]

So I first heard this was "just around the corner" like 25 yrs ago when I was on dialysis waiting on a kidney transplant.
And its still at an early stage of development.
I think it's just another cash cow for research grants and will never see the light of day.

 

[Roadkill]

Yep, this has been around for years. I believe a South Korean firm got in big trouble a few years ago for claiming they had falsely claimed they had perfected the process. Anyway, I'm eagerly awaiting the day they can grow me a new heart in a pig and I can eat the bacon from it!

 

[Doomer Doug]

The Island of Dr. Moreau comes to mind. If you take the Bible seriously, you understand that it was unrestricted genetic engineering, ie the Nephlim, that resulted in Noah's Flood. I believe there are certain lines that may never be crossed. I believe in God the Creator. We are told the reason Satan/Lucifer was kicked out of Heaven is he tried to usurp the authority and power of God. The level of human arrogance is staggering when you are talking about CREATING a new life form. God will not allow the created beings, humans, to begin creating life. The creation of life is the sole function of the Supreme Being.
We know what happens when man tries to "become like us." It was Adam and Eve and that didn't end well now did it.

Yep, this genetic manipulation fetish/obsession of humans is going to lead to disaster. If you have read the ancient stories about Atlantis, you realize that some of the myths talk about the Atlantis people attempting to either use dangerous powers, or to create new life forms using genetics.

At any rate, nothing good will come from this genetic manipulation obsession. What God has created, let no man tear asunder, ie manipulate the DNA and genes.

 

[Melodi]

It is only "early days" in terms of actually making a useful transplant into a human that passes all the tests and regulations - it is no longer "early days" in terms of the technology - they just DID IT; it worked.

They have now created viable chimeras that might have gone full term if the scientists hadn't pulled them and if that happened in the US; one can only imagine what goes on in some "dark labs" in places with less regulation (China, India, Vietnam, etc).

As for the Koreans, what they got in trouble for (or what one scientist did) was for a badly done paper that suggested they had done more than they did and were further along than they were; that same scientist is I believe now working in China and doing pretty well.

It wasn't that the technology wasn't working at all, it was just that he may have lied about what he exactly did in one experiment - which got him kicked out of his job and punished by the system; but hasn't stopped him from working or making progress.

Ignore this if you will, but it just turned out that somethings were much easier to do than expected and others were more difficult; and getting organs to work in human beings sets a very high standard to be approved for regular use.

Combining some creatures seems to be pretty easy in comparison; when you figure that we share more DNA with Bonobos than tigers do with lions (and they breed in zoos without any outside help) if left in the same cage; things could get really interesting in the next 20 years..

 

[Doomer Doug]

Melodi, we are unleashing IRIS DEI, the Wrath of God. Humans will simply not be ALLOWED to create new life forms. God will not tolerate it.

 

[Melodi]

Melodi, we are unleashing IRIS DEI, the Wrath of God. Humans will simply not be ALLOWED to create new life forms. God will not tolerate it.

You may be right, I'm not wild about this myself - but if the mythic cycles are true it is likely to get a whole lot worse before it gets better...

 

[Faroe]

It is only "early days" in terms of actually making a useful transplant into a human that passes all the tests and regulations - it is no longer "early days" in terms of the technology - they just DID IT; it worked.

They have now created viable chimeras that might have gone full term if the scientists hadn't pulled them and if that happened in the US; one can only imagine what goes on in some "dark labs" in places with less regulation (China, India, Vietnam, etc).

As for the Koreans, what they got in trouble for (or what one scientist did) was for a badly done paper that suggested they had done more than they did and were further along than they were; that same scientist is I believe now working in China and doing pretty well.

It wasn't that the technology wasn't working at all, it was just that he may have lied about what he exactly did in one experiment - which got him kicked out of his job and punished by the system; but hasn't stopped him from working or making progress.

Ignore this if you will, but it just turned out that somethings were much easier to do than expected and others were more difficult; and getting organs to work in human beings sets a very high standard to be approved for regular use.

Combining some creatures seems to be pretty easy in comparison; when you figure that we share more DNA with Bonobos than tigers do with lions (and they breed in zoos without any outside help) if left in the same cage; things could get really interesting in the next 20 years..

Seems to me, if we could have bred with bonobos, chimps, or orangoutangs, it would have happened. Gross as it is, people in SE Asia do have sex with orangs. I pretty sure that in all this time, somebody has tried it with all the others. Obviously, we are very lucky nothing comes of it.

Makes me wonder why they are not growing these organs out in apes or monkeys (not that I think this is right - would rather see it happen in a pig).

In terms of cosmic wrath, I'm more concerned about quantum computing and CERN than this. We combine all sorts of genes nowadays, and I personally think this stuff was going on back in what we refer to as Atlantis, but when it involves human DNA, it still creeps me out.

 

[China Connection]

I'm already part pig. One of my heart valves is from a pig. I've never rejected it so I must be close to a pig.

 

[Publius]

Oh yeah have someone like that over for diner and say heres a pork chop.

 

[TerryK]

Seems to me, if we could have bred with bonobos, chimps, or orangoutangs, it would have happened. Gross as it is, people in SE Asia do have sex with orangs. I pretty sure that in all this time, somebody has tried it with all the others. Obviously, we are very lucky nothing comes of it.

Makes me wonder why they are not growing these organs out in apes or monkeys (not that I think this is right - would rather see it happen in a pig).

In terms of cosmic wrath, I'm more concerned about quantum computing and CERN than this. We combine all sorts of genes nowadays, and I personally think this stuff was going on back in what we refer to as Atlantis, but when it involves human DNA, it still creeps me out.

A long time ago in our evolution our distant human ancestors had a genetic mutation.
We have 23 pairs of chromosomes while apes have 24.
Either apes had a chromosome that split in two, or humans have a chromosome that resulted from two chromosomes joining together into a single chromosome. The debate raged for a while until scientists were able to confirm a few things.

All chromosomes have special dna on both their endpoints. These are called telomeres and are on each end of every chromosome. Each chromosome has 2 telomeres.

All chromosomes also have midpoints where they join together. These are called centromeres. Every chromosome has one centromere.
Well the evidence is in.
Human Chromosome 2 used to be two separate chromosomes that somehow fused into one a very long time ago.
Human chromosome 2 has been found to have not only the 2 telomeres, one on each end, but also an extra remnant of 2 telomers inside the chromosome that showed where the once separate chromosomes joined.
Human chromosome 2 also has one primary centromere, but also has the remnant of another centromere which was once part of a separate chromosome.
So yes Faroe, even though we once had the exact same number of chromosomes as apes, two of the ape chromosomes joined together a long time ago in human evolution. We now have different numbers of chromosomes, so interbreeding is very unlikely to work.
With just a little chromosome modification or substitution it could happen in a lab and the embryo transplanted back into a mother.

That being said, Melodie's assertion that bonobos may one day be used to grow human organs is not impossible and in fact might be easier to do than using pigs for the purpose. The main advantage of pigs, aside from them being widely available, is that their organs and arrangement are remarkably similar to human physiology.
In Anatomy and Pshysiology 101 and 102, the first animal for dissection and study is frequently an unborn pig. I remember butchering a few with my sloppy scalpel skills

Those of you wailing that progress in this area must stop are the same ones who can't imagine the inevitability of automation and the effects it will have on our society.
Progress and innovation will always go on. You can try and stand in the way to stop it, but you will only get run over.

 

[Melodi]

Opps didn't mean to say I thought we could use bonobos to grow organs, since I think of the great apes as our younger cousins who need protecting (yeah I know reservations have a nasty history but I'm not sure there are many alternatives) I would be opposed to using them this way.

What I did mean is that in a lab, it would be very easy (in theory anyway) to combine human and great ape DNA; it does seem to be a bit more complicated in "nature" for all the reasons you pointed out; which doesn't mean it isn't technically possible but I gather Stalin tried it to breed super soldiers (so the rumors go) and didn't get any viable results (at least again according to the reports).

But just about ever genetic scientist I've ever met has admitted quietly that to combine apes and modern humans in the lab would probably work; though as one put it "you probably would not get a very happy individual and it wouldn't be very ethical."

Again, I'm not sure that would stop a "black lab" especially say if North Korea got a wild hair to make "super-ape-slaves" or something; as far as I know this has not been done and it may turn out to be harder than the lion-tiger crosses.

And I'm not saying we can stop this, I don't think that's possible; I note that the US allows no public funds to be used so private ones were used; when the US banned research on stem cells the scientists just moved to the UK (I personally knew two of them) who then moved back when the lab work was allowed again.

What I do think is important is to think ahead of how these things may change things in both positive and negative ways; no one wants little pigs with near human brains, but no one wants to start killing people (a la the movie Coma) just to get replacement body parts either.

My concern is partly also about diseases transferred from pig to human and I gather that was an early concern of the scientists also; especially since doctors are not even sure where human awareness actually resides in the body - we know it is partly in the brain, but there are way-way too many documented medical cases of people getting a transplant from someone (like a heart, lung, kidney or liver) and suddenly starting to like foods the deceased person enjoyed (that the individual previously may have hated); or preferring colors the deceased person did or even hobbies that the donor enjoyed.

It hasn't been studied a lot yet but the effects are known as potentials to doctors who work in the transplant field - it is kind of woo - but a scientific sort of woo that someday will most likely be better understood.

But that could be a potential issue with pig/human body parts...but then suddenly disliking sausage might be accepted as a good trade for a new heart that is in working order lol

 

[Doomer Doug]

"They" are talking about growing sentient beings as a spare part factory. The ethical, medical and moral implications of that are astounding. The level of arrogance involved is also astounding. This is evil. The results will be evil. And that is all there is to it.

 

[ericha]

Half man half Pig? That's nothing new, i've known people like that for years!

 

[Pen Name]

Anyone else see a push for trans-species rights when this Frankenstein's monster really gets rolling. Unintended consequences are gonna come from this, I fear.

 

[Bridey Rose]

Side Effects

I've heard that so far the only known side effects of receiving a transplanted organ from a genetically modified people-pig is the uncontrollable urge to say "Oink" -- and eternal damnation!

 

[Chair Warmer]

Opps didn't mean to say I thought we could use bonobos to grow organs, since I think of the great apes as our younger cousins who need protecting (yeah I know reservations have a nasty history but I'm not sure there are many alternatives) I would be opposed to using them this way.

What I did mean is that in a lab, it would be very easy (in theory anyway) to combine human and great ape DNA; it does seem to be a bit more complicated in "nature" for all the reasons you pointed out; which doesn't mean it isn't technically possible but I gather Stalin tried it to breed super soldiers (so the rumors go) and didn't get any viable results (at least again according to the reports).

But just about ever genetic scientist I've ever met has admitted quietly that to combine apes and modern humans in the lab would probably work; though as one put it "you probably would not get a very happy individual and it wouldn't be very ethical."

Again, I'm not sure that would stop a "black lab" especially say if North Korea got a wild hair to make "super-ape-slaves" or something; as far as I know this has not been done and it may turn out to be harder than the lion-tiger crosses.

And I'm not saying we can stop this, I don't think that's possible; I note that the US allows no public funds to be used so private ones were used; when the US banned research on stem cells the scientists just moved to the UK (I personally knew two of them) who then moved back when the lab work was allowed again.

What I do think is important is to think ahead of how these things may change things in both positive and negative ways; no one wants little pigs with near human brains, but no one wants to start killing people (a la the movie Coma) just to get replacement body parts either.

My concern is partly also about diseases transferred from pig to human and I gather that was an early concern of the scientists also; especially since doctors are not even sure where human awareness actually resides in the body - we know it is partly in the brain, but there are way-way too many documented medical cases of people getting a transplant from someone (like a heart, lung, kidney or liver) and suddenly starting to like foods the deceased person enjoyed (that the individual previously may have hated); or preferring colors the deceased person did or even hobbies that the donor enjoyed.

It hasn't been studied a lot yet but the effects are known as potentials to doctors who work in the transplant field - it is kind of woo - but a scientific sort of woo that someday will most likely be better understood.

But that could be a potential issue with pig/human body parts...but then suddenly disliking sausage might be accepted as a good trade for a new heart that is in working order lol

Melodi, I love how you have an open mind and see the whole array of how things may be affected by others in sociology and biology. I have never liked fish in my life until I was pregnant with my 3rd child (part Fillipino) and craved fish during that pregnancy. I now have a few favorite types of fish I like to eat. I think the genetics intermingling while carrying him effected me to eat more fish and changed my tastes to like it. Make of it what you will...

 

[Bubble Head]

They will vote Democrat.

 

[FaithfulSkeptic]

I guess Rosie O'Donnell won't have to worry about organ transplants.

 

[FaithfulSkeptic]

I'm already part pig. One of my heart valves is from a pig. I've never rejected it so I must be close to a pig.

Do you take or have you ever taken anti-rejection drugs?

 

[China Connection]

No. never to my knowledge.

 

[Terriannie]

DH's brother just got a pig valve in his heart not long ago. He's not taking anti-rejection meds and is doing great.

There's a difference between utilizing pig parts which are compatable to the human body and infusion of Human DNA with a pig, especially, not knowing the outcome!!!

Talk about super-intelligence devolving into stupidity!

I'm not sure but there "might" be some input from Our Creator and "slippery slope" will become an understatement at that point!!!