Genetic Scientists Now Creating Human Animal Hybrids ~ "Chimeras"

Scientists hope the chimera embryos represent key steps toward life-saving lab-grown organs. They have created the first successful human-animal hybrids. The project proves that human cells can be introduced into a non-human organism, survive, and even grow inside a host animal, in this case, pigs. This biomedical advance has long been a dream and a quandary for scientists hoping to address a critical shortage of donor organs.

Every ten minutes, a person is added to the national waiting list for organ transplants. And every day, 22 people on that list die without the organ they need. What if, rather than relying on a generous donor, you could grow a custom organ inside an animal instead?

Human blood filters through pig lungs in the lab of Lars Burdorf at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. Thousands of people die every year for lack of transplantable human organs. Scientists are experimenting with a technique called CRISPR to rid pig organs of viruses that harm humans.

That’s now one step closer to reality, an international team of researchers led by the Salk Institute reports in the journal Cell. The team created what’s known scientifically as a chimera: an organism that contains cells from two different species.

Lead study author Jun Wu of the Salk Institute, we need only look to mythical chimeras—like the human-bird hybrids we know as angels—for a different perspective.

“In ancient civilizations, chimeras were associated with God,” he says, and our ancestors thought “the chimeric form can guard humans.” In a sense, that’s what the team hopes human-animal hybrids will one day do.

The mighty Chimera—a single body sprouting lion, goat and snake heads—is one of the most recognizable mythological beasts. The modern chimera is not so physically striking, being a hybrid organism with organs or tissues from multiple species. But it could become an important tool for medical research. Scientists have mixed-and-matched human and animal cells for years, hoping to one day grow replacement human organs or discover genetic pathways of human diseases.

Music: Kaddish (Instrumental Mix) by Dhruva Aliman
Amazon- https://amzn.to/3dgKA52
https://music.apple.com/us/artist/dhruva-aliman/363563637
https://dhruvaaliman.bandcamp.com/album/hard-to-get-along
http://www.dhruvaaliman.com/
Spotify - https://open.spotify.com/artist/5XiFCr9iBKE6Cupltgnlet

#Frankenstein
#strange
#creepy