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TOKYO— A scientist pioneering research toward generating human organs in pigs has cleared one hurdle in gaining approval to continue his research in Japan. But he is still concerned that finalizing new research guidelines will take too long, so he is considering conducting the key experiments in the United States.
Stem cell biologist Hiromitsu Nakauchi of the University of Tokyo has been pursuing the idea of implanting human pluripotent stem cells, which can differentiate into any of the cells in the human body, into pig embryos engineered to be incapable of developing their own pancreases. If the technique works, the stem cells will develop into human pancreases in the pig fetus. After a piglet's birth, the pancreas would be harvested and islet cells isolated for transplantation into human type 1 diabetes patients.
In a 2010 Cell paper, Nakauchi's team described growing rat pancreases, using rat stem cells, in apancreatic mouse embryos. And in a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) this past February, the team reported generating pancreases for one species of pig...
Stem cell biologist Hiromitsu Nakauchi of the University of Tokyo has been pursuing the idea of implanting human pluripotent stem cells, which can differentiate into any of the cells in the human body, into pig embryos engineered to be incapable of developing their own pancreases. If the technique works, the stem cells will develop into human pancreases in the pig fetus. After a piglet's birth, the pancreas would be harvested and islet cells isolated for transplantation into human type 1 diabetes patients.
In a 2010 Cell paper, Nakauchi's team described growing rat pancreases, using rat stem cells, in apancreatic mouse embryos. And in a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) this past February, the team reported generating pancreases for one species of pig...