Several groups have tried to make human animal chimeric embryos. Scientists think that the cells from such different animals are simply too distinct to coexist and communicate as intimately as embryonic cells do. There is another way to generate transplantable organs, and maybe one day brain tissue that could be used to study and treat disease. In a method called blastasist complementation, scientists introduce mutations that prevent an embryo from generating a particular organ. They then take stem cells that can produce that organ from another animal and inject them into the blast assist.
The development of brain chimaeras – made up of human and animal neurons – is an area of research that has hugely expanded in the past five years. Proponents say that these systems are yielding important insights into health and disease, but others say the chimeras represent an ethical grey zone, because of the potential to blur the line between humans and other animals, or to recapitulate human-like cognition in an animal.
This is an audio version of our Feature: Hybrid brains: the ethics of transplanting human neurons into animals
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