Half man half sheep 8 v6 u* w7 a) d! QSCIENTISTS have created the world's first human-sheep chimera - which has the body of a sheep and half-human organs. . u; n- f3 a. O0 _6 u b4 ]- O7 x' v0 ]% u' B8 Y
The sheep have 15 per cent human cells and 85 per cent animal cells - and their evolution brings the prospect of animal organs being transplanted into humans one step closer. 7 C$ b1 i, k8 g$ Y% ^" ]) `
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Professor Esmail Zanjani, of the University of Nevada, has spent seven years and £5m ($A12m) perfecting the technique, which involves injecting adult human cells into a sheep's foetus. 9 |( B; m* z9 J; j; O: v( g7 T) c . p. j& j: C+ K7 z8 I5 iHe has already created a sheep liver which has a large proportion of human cells and eventually hopes to precisely match a sheep to a transplant patient, using their own stem cells to create their own flock of sheep. 1 i5 I/ t3 |! ?8 Z7 G7 A
& Q/ z6 m4 ~, P, CThe process would involve extracting stem cells from the donor's bone marrow and injecting them into the peritoneum of a sheep's foetus. 9 L$ x6 \' G3 G: | l
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When the lamb is born, two months later, it would have a liver, heart, lungs and brain that are partly human and available for transplant. . s/ z' T0 S7 s1 w4 P- U8 g( Q0 n3 [ ; b! d6 D- ]0 V% @7 ` z9 G7 B: b' ]"We would take a couple of ounces of bone marrow cells from the patient," Prof Zanjani told Britain's Mail on Sunday. ( A; `# o% g0 ?$ S9 q( V- _# r% F+ ~7 _% b0 e7 s
"We would isolate the stem cells from them, inject them into the peritoneum of these animals and then these cells would get distributed throughout the metabolic system into the circulatory system of all the organs in the body. % V j5 H* F( O' @( y5 V
/ o8 L1 U3 C s; }: d"The two ounces of stem cell or bone marrow cell we get would provide enough stem cells to do about ten foetuses. So you don't just have one organ for transplant purposes, you have many available in case the first one fails." 3 `" ?9 H5 {/ N' Q8 s% S
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At present 7,168 patients are waiting for an organ transplant in Britain alone, and two thirds of them are expected to die before an organ becomes available. 8 m- ^) L& X9 | a5 `; q6 k ( M% B0 d3 a4 O: H3 U$ ^; HScientists at King's College, London, and the North East Stem Cell Institute in Newcastle have now applied to the HFEA, the Government's fertility watchdog, for permission to start work on the chimeras. * F0 x% i) T4 N3 v" T1 w' {" w
& x3 q& E0 k. Q" t# M; n# l5 YBut the development is likely to revive criticisms about scientists playing God, with the possibility of silent viruses, which are harmless in animals, being introduced into the human race. 4 x" i7 h: [4 E* k
! C9 y' M" Q- K9 z: \Dr Patrick Dixon, an international lecturer on biological trends, warned: "Many silent viruses could create a biological nightmare in humans. Mutant animal viruses are a real threat, as we have seen with HIV." 0 b4 S; }! x; R) @7 P. P: g9 ?9 O0 V ( y3 e S, [, M d( ^' iAnimal rights activists fear that if the cells get mixed together, they could end up with cellular fusion, creating a hybrid which would have the features and characteristics of both man and sheep. 4 P5 g0 G7 A0 S' J 4 S' ?& M- P+ K, c) wBut Prof Zanjani said: "Transplanting the cells into foetal sheep at this early stage does not result in fusion at all."
图片附件: [Hybrid ... scientists have developed a sheep with 15 per cent human cells. / The Sunday Telegraph] Hybrid.jpg (2007-3-26 11:13, 37.2 KB) / 下载次数 76 http://rs238848.rs.hosteurope.de/bbs/attachment.php?aid=249919&k=2c3b847793f6ec5ac04a105ad84e7597&t=1733083459&sid=B00Vk8
作者: 日月光 时间: 2007-3-26 11:19
中新网洛杉矶3月25日电 (记者 贾国荣)据美国媒体3月25日报道,世界第一只人兽混种羊在美国内华达大学的伊斯梅尔·赞加尼教授领导的研究小组诞生,目前羊体内的人类细胞比例达到15%,动物细胞比例为85%。0 k) x* T6 m" u: W$ U
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研究小组用七年时间终于培育出人兽混种羊,这项研究的最终目标是在绵羊体内“种”出病人需要的各种可移植器官。包括从病人骨髓中提取干细胞,然后将其注入绵羊的胚胎腹膜中,等胚胎发育成形、羊羔降生,人类干细胞也会通过新陈代谢系统进入绵羊所有器官的循环系统。两个月后,绵羊含有部分人类基因的肝脏、心脏和大脑就会发育健全,这时就能为人类利用了。5 s- T0 I% d: f% C8 Y1 \2 b9 F
9 |5 T: g4 x7 u+ H8 A. x 赞加尼教授表示,从人体骨髓提取不到56克的干细胞就足以注入10个绵羊胚胎,这样就能培养出多个可供移植的器官,假如第一个器官移植失败,还有很多备用器官。这样,人兽混种绵羊将成为“活体工厂”,为人类提供组织器官,同时也可用于药物实验。 - w5 T& [) N+ q2 |: U" }( k " U& P* b0 u, V! N 但是,这一技术正在科学界引起激烈争论,后果难说。4 T0 c0 V! |' {. y( j% c! b, P1 R