Yes, you read that headline correctly. In Japan, scientists are now free to create human-animal hybrids, grow them to term, and see their creation come into existence.
Not surprisingly, it’s full of ethical issues.
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Are they playing god?
Whatever your thoughts on this question, this ship sailed long ago. Whether we’re talking about Dolly the cloned sheep or, more recently, lab-grown meat , science has long been able to take control of, and alter, life itself.
The new frontier is human-animal hybrids.
It’s now a real possibility, thanks to advances in medical technology. But just because something is possible doesn’t mean it’s actually happening — and for it to happen, regulations and laws need to allow it to happen.
What’s the purpose of these hybrids?
It isn’t an Animorphs scenario. The true goal is a little more boring, and a lot more meaningful: creating organs, more or less from scratch, that can be used to transplant into human patients.
How far have we come?
There’s a big difference between creating a hybrid embryo and actually seeing that embryo carried to term and birthed. Scientists have created these hybrid embryos, but haven’t been allowed to bring them to term.
Japan’s move is a big one.
Japan’s science ministry has provisionally approved experiments that will not only create human-animal hybrid embryos, but also allow them to be born. Approval means scientists can theoretically start testing the feasibility of transplanting hybrid organs into humans.
How’s it work?
It’s all about mice and rats, the creatures most often experimented on in labs. Scientists will edit their genes so they can’t produce a certain organ. Then, they’ll take a fertilized egg from one of these animals and add human cells. Finally, they transplant these eggs into a rat or mouse that will eventually give birth.
Some people have questions.
“It is problematic, both ethically and from a safety aspect, to place human [cells], which are still capable of transforming into all types of cells, into the fertilized eggs of rats and mice,” researcher Jiro Nudeshima said .
Where does it all lead?
While it sounds pretty freaky, we’re not about to see human-sized rats, or vice versa. Researcher Hiromitsu Nakauchi said , “At that level, an animal with a human face will never be born.”
It’s a new frontier in medical science.
If this project yields big, meaningful dividends, we likely won’t see them for years. But the prospect of growing organs for transplantation is an appealing one from a public health standpoint.
What do you think?
On one hand, science is amazing. On the other, this feels inherently weird. Let us know what you think of this story in the comments section!
h/t: The Asahi Shimbun
