GUANGZHOU: In a groundbreaking achievement, a Chinese research team has successfully grown early-stage human kidneys from stem cells within pig embryos.
This scientific advancement brings the possibility of pig-grown human organs for transplantation one step closer and offers a unique opportunity to study human kidney development.
The study, published in the journal Cell Stem Cell, was conducted by scientists from the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
The research team employed gene-editing techniques to modify specific genes in human induced pluripotent stem cells (IPSCs), enhancing their ability to develop and form kidneys within genetically modified pig embryos that lacked the natural capacity to grow kidneys.
Human-Pig Hybrid Kidneys
IPSCs are a type of stem cell derived from adult skin or blood cells and can be reprogrammed into an embryonic-like state, enabling them to develop into various types of human cells for therapeutic applications.
The study revealed that, within 28 days, the researchers successfully generated five embryos with well-structured human-pig hybrid kidneys in the intermediate stage of development. These human donor cells demonstrated the capability to differentiate into functional cells within the pig kidneys.
According to the research findings, the proportion of human cells within the chimeric kidneys reached as high as 70%, and their contribution to the formation of mesonephric tubules peaked at 58%.
