chimeras
zooillogix | March 30, 2007To baaa or not to baaa?
Professor Esmail Zanjani from the University of Nevada unveiled a genetically engineered sheep- well, technically a sheep, we think -that has 15 percent human cells and 85 percent sheep cells this past week. Zanjani injects adult human cells into sheep fetuses to create these chimeras with the eventual goal of "growing" human organs inside the sheep for transplant into humans.
In an example given by Zanjani, he hopes one day to take bone marrow cells from a sick patient, implant the cells into a sheep fetus and literally grow bone marrow for the patient inside the…
zooillogix | March 27, 2007Gandalf of the Marmosets, Emperor Marmoset, Saguinus imperator
Animals that carry cells from another individual, most often a fraternal twin (non-identical), are known as chimeras. Aside from marmosets, chimeras have been discovered in humans, cats and cows. Considered a rare fluke in most species, marmosets have a unique embryonic development that results in most of them sharing chimeric blood. Researchers recently discovered that the swapping goes even further: 50% of male marmosets carry their brothers' sperm and 10% of female marmosets have their sisters' ovaries. That means marmosets can…