International team creates first chimeric human-monkey embryos

Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte’s research team, in collaboration with Chinese scientists, has managed to create chimera embryos with human and monkey cells and cultivate them for 19 days. The research, which has received some criticism due to the ethical implications of chimera generation, has demonstrated the potential of human stem cells to contribute to different cell types in chimera embryos and provides new information on how human cells communicate with each other and monkey when mixed during early embryonic development. The results of the work represent a step forward in the possibility of generating human organs in pigs in the future, the main objective of the researchers.

Full article available (Spanish) in Genotype