Scientists in Japan could be on their way to creating the first human-animal hybrid embryos. The scientists plan on bringing the embryo to term, which in theory, would result in a living human-animal hybrid.
As Nature reports, the science ministry in Japan has approved a request from a group of researchers who want to grow human pancreases inside of rodents. The scientists moved fast, grabbing the first approval for human-animal experimentation since the government repealed a ban on the practice earlier in 2019.
As Hiromitsu Nakauchi, the lead researcher in the study told the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, his team has been preparing for the experiment for ten years.
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Previous experiments that involved human-animal hybrid embryos were not permitted to proceed to full term, and were exterminated before birth.
Nakauchi explained they’re attempting to genetically engineer animals that don’t produce a specific organ while they are developing, but instead they will make it so that the animal grows a human organ in its place. In this case, the organ that they are experimenting with is the pancreas.
Several ethical concerns have been raised around the experiments, as many people have argued that it would be cruel and inhumane to create and raise such a creature, particularly for harvesting organs.
In 2017, medical ethicist Carolyn Neuhaus said that careful scientific debates should be taking place before that type of technology hits the conventional market.
Human-animal hybrid embryo work moves forward, especially in Japan. How much hope is there for organ transplantation via this route? How do we resolve the thorny bioethical considerations? https://t.co/rLJwpDgLbZ
— Paul Knoepfler (@pknoepfler) July 26, 2019
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