According to many scientifical points of view, the creation of an embryo that is part-monkey and part-human is a unique opportunity for medical experts to produce organs and tissues for human transplantation or the beginning of a horror, sci-fi movie.
Either way, that concept has materialized!
In a new study posted in the scientific journal “Cell,” scientists coordinated by Dr Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte of California’s Salk Institute for Biological Studies made the first embryo to include both human and non-human primate cells – the long-tailed macaques.
The result is known as a “chimera” – an organism that includes genetic material from at least two individuals.
Izpisua Belmonte’s team injected 25 human cells called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPS cells and hiPS cells when they originate from humans) into the embryos of the test long-tailed macaque monkeys.
Human cells managed to grow inside 132 of the embryos, and the scientists overviewed the results for up to 19 days.
Many sources reported that the first 50% human, 50% monkey embryo, though The Guardian claimed that the same team produced one two years ago.
The chimera experiment wasn’t the result of mad scientists analyzing ethical limits – It presented real scientific purpose and value.
With additional research and some luck, scientists may use the results from the experiments to grow human organs in other animals.
If that can happen, it could open multiple new horizons and answer multiple problems.
It can answer the problems of people who lost organs due to various diseases, including cancer and help replace organs that aren’t working correctly.
Imagine that you could replace a kidney that failed without going through the lengthy process that many patients have to experience nowadays.
