- Oct 17, 2011
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Human-Monkey Chimeras Shed Light on Development
Human stem cells injected into early monkey embryos proliferate and contribute to multiple cell lineages over 20 days of embryonic development.
In a study published today (April 15) in Cell, researchers describe their progress in producing a human-monkey chimeric embryo in an effort to determine whether having a more closely related host would allow the human cells to have a greater presence, thus paving the way for a better understanding of what cell types they can become and, possibly in the far future, a potential way to cope with the shortage of human organs available for transplant. The scientists made the chimeras by injecting human extended pluripotent stem (EPS) cells—also known as expanded potential stem cells—into early embryos of cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). The team grew the chimeras for up to 20 days in culture and found that up to 7 percent of the embryos’ cells can trace their lineage to the human EPS cells.
The researchers injected each of 132 six-day-old monkey embryos with 25 human EPS cells. The next day, they found human cells in all of the embryos. Where those cells were found within the embryos shifted over time. At 15 days old, the 38 surviving chimeras had the highest contribution of human cells (about 7 percent) in the outermost layer of embryonic cells, and at 19 days old, the three surviving chimeras had the greatest proportion of human cells (about 5 percent) in the innermost layer. The team did not see much human-cell presence in the layer that would become the extraembryonic tissues, such as the placenta.
Naturally, this raises questions of ethics.
Human stem cells injected into early monkey embryos proliferate and contribute to multiple cell lineages over 20 days of embryonic development.
In a study published today (April 15) in Cell, researchers describe their progress in producing a human-monkey chimeric embryo in an effort to determine whether having a more closely related host would allow the human cells to have a greater presence, thus paving the way for a better understanding of what cell types they can become and, possibly in the far future, a potential way to cope with the shortage of human organs available for transplant. The scientists made the chimeras by injecting human extended pluripotent stem (EPS) cells—also known as expanded potential stem cells—into early embryos of cynomolgus monkeys (Macaca fascicularis). The team grew the chimeras for up to 20 days in culture and found that up to 7 percent of the embryos’ cells can trace their lineage to the human EPS cells.
The researchers injected each of 132 six-day-old monkey embryos with 25 human EPS cells. The next day, they found human cells in all of the embryos. Where those cells were found within the embryos shifted over time. At 15 days old, the 38 surviving chimeras had the highest contribution of human cells (about 7 percent) in the outermost layer of embryonic cells, and at 19 days old, the three surviving chimeras had the greatest proportion of human cells (about 5 percent) in the innermost layer. The team did not see much human-cell presence in the layer that would become the extraembryonic tissues, such as the placenta.
Naturally, this raises questions of ethics.