Human-Sheep Hybrid Created


To 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 animal. Just one sample of cells from the patient "would provide enough stem cells to do about ten fetuses. So you don't just have one organ for transplant purposes, you have many available in case the first one fails," says Zanjani.

digg_url = 'http://zooillogix.blogspot.com/2007/03/human-sheep-hybrid-created.html';

More like this

Remember Bush's speech last year where he denounced "human-animal hybrids"? Well, I don't know about you, but I about fell off the couch laughing. But now it looks like his worst fear has come to pass: a chimeric sheep with 15% human cells, engineered with the hope of animal organs one day being…
Scientists interested in treating infertility in humans are turning to an unlikely source for inspiration: naked mole-rats. The rats--actually more closely related to porcupines and chinchillas than moles or rats--live in large colonies much like ants. In these colonies, one dominant female called…
A relative of the starfish, crinoids are neither abundant nor well understood. Also known as "sea lilies" or "feather stars" the strange creatures consist of a mouthpart, feeding arms and generally have a stem that connects them to the sea floor. Scientists have long known that crinoids were…
But I just want to cuddle! Bathynomus giganteus In what might be described as the world's most destructive termite problem, Hotboro Island is actually being eaten away by isopods only about an inch long. Isopods are not in fact insects, but primitive crustaceans ranging in size from the size of a…

Holy cow (sheep), I never saw this before. I'll have to check out all your early posts.

I think this is a brilliant idea, and we should be grateful to the scientists for providing us with treatments for serious diseases. But people claim it is unethical; you'll notice this is usually healthy people without the diseases that can be cured by this research.

I think this is a brilliant idea, and we should be grateful to the scientists for providing us with treatments for serious diseases. But people claim it is unethical; you'll notice this is usually healthy people without the diseases that can be cured by this research

I donât understand â"would provide enough stem cells to do about ten fetuses. So you don't just have one organ for transplant purposes, you have many available in case the first one fails,"â

Can you avow to me please?

Thank you..