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Why Scientists Are Inserting Human Organ Cells Into Pig Embryos

Chimeric embryos that contain both human and animal genes offer the possibility of life-saving organs, but also raise many ethical questions.

Why Scientists Are Inserting Human Organ Cells Into Pig Embryos

[DIGEST: NPR, BBC, Newsweek]

Scientists may have found a new way to grow human organs, and they won’t be coming out of 3D-printing machines or human cloning – though the new method may sound more suited to the pages of science fiction than a science lab. Researchers at University of California at Davis are experimenting with chimeras, embryos that contain both human and pig genes, in hopes that pigs might someday carry healthy human organs that could save the lives of those with progressive diseases or traumatic injuries.

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