Scientists have created the first-ever human–pig chimeric embryos, with a long-term goal of eventually devising a strategy to produce spare organs for transplantation into people. “The interspecies differences . . . are not insignificant hurdles to overcome to try and develop this technology further to make a whole human organ,” Stephen Strom of the Karolinska Institute in Sweden who was not involved in the work told The Scientist.
Nearer term, the embryos could be useful models for developmental biology, drug development, and more, noted the authors, whose findings were published in Cell last week (January 26).
Meanwhile, in Nature, researchers described their transplantation of mouse-rat chimeric pancreata into mice meant to model diabetes last week (January 25). The organs were functional, the team reported, regulating the rodents’ blood-glucose levels for more than a year.
While marijuana has been legalized for medical use in several U.S. states and on the federal ...
