Have You Heard About The Human–Pig Hybrid?

How Is It Made?

This hybrid is a pig embryo that is injected with human cells. Scientists have announced that they have been successful in creating the very first functioning human-animal hybrid! This project proves that human cells have the ability to be introduced into a non-human being as well, and it can survive and grow in those conditions. In this case, they've used it on a pig.

It Was A Dream Project

An international team of researchers, which is led by the Salk Institute, for this project, is involved in making this dream turn into reality. The team of researchers created 'chimera' that can be defined as an organism that contains the cells from two different species. They used the human cells and animal cells for this experiment.

'Chimera' Is Defined As…

Chimeras are believed to be "Gods" that can guard the humans. The team hoped that the human-animal hybrid will do the same one day!

How They Built A Chimera

One of the ways to build a chimera is by introducing one animal's cells into another animal's embryo. After this, it is let to grow into a hybrid.

The other way is to introduce the organs of one animal into another. This is a risky trick, as the host's body can reject the organ and it could be a failure.

Challenges Faced…

The scientists had to make use of scaffolds to ensure that there is growth of the organs into the right shape. A team of scientists had found a way out on how they could grow the pancreatic tissue of a rat inside a mouse. They later claimed that the pancreas that had grown inside the rats had successfully treated diabetes when it was transplanted into diseased mice.

The Big Step…

The big step in this experiment was to figure out whether it was possible to increase the number of human cells that the embryo could tolerate. But the result isn't clear whether the obstacle can be overcome.

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