NPR reported on the major scientific discovery, which provides important information about how animal cells and human cells grow and communicate with each other. The aim of the experiment was to help researchers understand the evolution of cells and determine if there could be a way to grow organs for transplant, given that the demand for organs so often exceeds the supply.
Image credit: Weizhi Ji / Kunming University of Science and Technology
The study gave the group a better understanding of early human development, which could eventually lead to new advances in medical science as scientists strive to find new ways to produce organs for transplants. Insoo Hyun, a bioethicist who supported the study, stressed the importance of research by highlighting deaths that occur from year to year due to organ shortages.
It is not the first time that human cells have been implanted in other animals, usually human cells have been injected into sheep and pig embryos, but in this case, monkeys have been used because they are more closely related to humans genetically. However, this special mixed-species embryo has sparked an ethical debate among scientists who have expressed concern about the experiment.
Kristin Matthews, a fellow in science and technology at Rice University’s Baker Institute, summarized some of the issues in the scientific community regarding the foundations of the study. “I think the public will be worried,” she said. “And I’m just as good, that we’re just kind of advancing with science without having a proper conversation about what we should or shouldn’t do.”
“Should it be regulated as a human because it has a significant proportion of human cells in it? Or should it be regulated as an animal? Or something else?” Matthews continued to question, while reflecting on where research might lead us in the future. “When do you take something and use it for organs when it starts to think and make sense?”
Belmonte acknowledged ethical concerns, but stressed that his team only intended to create the embryo for research. “Our goal is not to generate any new organisms, no monsters,” he explained. “And we don’t do that. We’re trying to understand how cells in different organisms communicate with each other.”
If you are wondering on which side of the debate social media falls, it seems that a large number of people are in the same pool of thought: that the Planet of the Apes could be on the verge of becoming a reality. Many on Twitter jokingly expressed concern about the possibility of the fictional narrative coming to life, especially the part about intelligent monkeys rising up against humans.
“Almost a good idea for a movie … you could call it the Planet of the Apes,“ a person posted on Twitter, like another joke: “Well, in the original and most recent iterations of Monkey Planet, it all started with a global pandemic.” The Walking Dead Twitter account took the opportunity to assure his followers that “we will have the Planet of the Apes before we have a zombie apocalypse.”However, it remains to be seen what could happen when a monkey is given the chance to play a video game in his mind. Elon Musk could have the answer for us soon, as he claims that one of his companies implanted a device in a monkey’s brain, hoping to make him play “mind pong” with another cyborg monkey to test a technology that would could potentially treat brain and spinal injuries.
Adele Ankers is a freelance entertainment journalist. You can get to it further Twitter.