UK Approves Human-Pig Embryo Stem-Cell Harvest

An anonymous reader writes "British biologists have received government approval to create the world's first human stem cells from hybrid embryos, part pig, part human. The Warwick Medical School team, led by Justin St. John of the Clinical Sciences Research Institute, was granted the country's third animal-human embryo license from the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, which goes into effect today (July 1)." The above link requires (free) registration; the Telegraph's coverage does not.

Somewhat misleading...

[MozeeToby]

The summary seems to imply that they are creating embryos which combine genetic material from humans and pigs. The article, on the other hand, says that they are taking 100% human DNA and implanting them into pig egg cells which have had their DNA removed. I think it's safe to to say that there is a huge difference between the two ideas.

Re:Somewhat misleading...

[stranger_to_himself]

The summary seems to imply that they are creating embryos which combine genetic material from humans and pigs. The article, on the other hand, says that they are taking 100% human DNA and implanting them into pig egg cells which have had their DNA removed. I think it's safe to to say that there is a huge difference between the two ideas.

They would still have pig mitochondrial DNA, even if the nuclear DNA was all replaced.

Re:Somewhat misleading...

[Richard_at_work]

What is being created here is a cytoplasmic hybrid embryo, where the cells nucleus is fully human DNA, but the cells mitochondria is not replaced and that has a DNA signature of its own, meaning that the cells reproduce as human, but the embryos themselves are only considered to be 99.9% human, and 0.1% animal.

that's historically accurate

[circletimessquare]

historically cannibalistic societies in the pacific did in fact call human flesh "long-pig"

we really **do** taste like pig

"the Marquesas Islands of Polynesia, where human flesh was called long-pig (Alanna King, ed., Robert Louis Stevenson in the South Seas, London: Luzac Paragon House, 1987: 45-50)."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannibalism#Middle_Ages [wikipedia.org]

Re:Somewhat misleading...

[Schemat1c]

...but the embryos themselves are only considered to be 99.9% human, and 0.1% animal.

Aren't humans also animals?

OT: the game

[FiloEleven]

God dammit! I *did* just lose the game, and I had a winning streak of close to 4 years, my personal best!

At least I know I'll be bringing other people down with me.

Re:Somewhat misleading...

[MozeeToby]

In the hybrid, the mitochondria mostly come from the egg, initially making up around half of the DNA by weight, and the team will do experiments in order to ensure that the trace of human mitochondrial DNA takes over, not least because it is designed to work with human nuclear DNA.

Apparently they are trying to remove the Pig Mitochondria as well, or atleast make the human mitochondria dominant.

Re:What could possibly go wrong?!

[bob_herrick]

I think you need to go back and reread the refernce. This article from the UK [telegraph.co.uk] makes it pretty clear that

We will take skin cells from patients who have a mutation for certain kinds of heart disease (cardiomyopathy, which makes the heart lose its pumping strength) and put them into pig eggs after their chromosomes have been removed. We will then make embryos so that we can attempt to derive embryonic stem cells which will allow us to study some of the molecular mechanisms associated with these heart diseases.

That 'attempt to derive embryonic stem cells' is not going to leave a viable embryo behind. Sorry, no man-pigs, just cells to culture and use for heart repair.