Researchers working on a joint US-China team are gaining a lot of attention for the latest discovery. The team, which published its findings in the scientific journal Cell, managed to create human-monkey hybrid embryos, also known as pie in the sky. If this sounds like science fiction, it’s actually a reality that we may have to address soon.
In this study, the research team began with macaque monkey embryos and then injected them with human stem cells. More than 130 embryos were used, each injected with 25 human cells. Ten days after the injection of extensive human pluripotent stem cells, 103 embryos remained viable. However, after only 19 days, the number of live embryos dropped dramatically to just three. The researchers were relieved to find that a high percentage of human cells remained in viable embryos.
In the meantime, you’re probably thinking, why would researchers want to create these chimeric embryos in the first place?
“From these analyzes, several communication pathways were identified that were either new or consolidated in chimeric cells,” said lead author Izpisua Belmonte, who is a professor at the Gene Expression Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Sciences. “Understanding the pathways that are involved in chimeric cell communication will allow us to improve this communication and increase the efficiency of chimerism in a host species that is more evolutionarily distant from humans.”
There has always been an interest in the connection between primates and humans, due to our close genetic family ties. However, these researchers may have taken a step too far, according to some people. The following statement combines concerns about the research team’s motives:
The generation of a chimera between human and non-human primates, a species more closely related to humans throughout evolutionary chronology than all previously used species, will allow us to you know better if there are barriers that are evolutionarily imposed on the generation of the chimera and if there are means by which we can overcome them.
The bold part is of particular interest; why would we do want to cross the barrier to the creation of fully functional human-monkey hybrids or anything hybrids involving humans? Researchers aim to contribute to the development of transplantable tissues and organs for humans and even to the development of new drug screening processes. But this of course raises many ethical concerns, especially if we talk about the use of these chimerical beings for organ harvesting.
“The scientists behind this research say that these chimeric embryos offer new opportunities because” we are unable to perform certain types of experiments on humans, “said Dr. Anna Smajdor of the University of East Anglia Norwich Medical School in a statement BBC. “But whether or not these embryos are human is questionable.”
However, Belmonte argues that “it is our responsibility, as scientists, to conduct our research carefully, following all ethical, legal and social lines in force.”
What do you think about this wild development with human-ape chimeric embryos? Is this just a slippery slope that could lead to undesirable consequences in the future or do the goals justify the means when it comes to harvesting replacement organs for humans? Tell us your opinions in the comments below.
(Image above, credit: 20th Century Fox)