‘Humanised’ organs can be grown in animals

December 18, 2003 | Source: NewScientist.com

Injecting human stem cells into sheep fetuses produces animals with partially human organs — a possible source of matched transplants.

It would also allow doctors to obtain immune-compatible cells without having to create human embryos by therapeutic cloning.

The idea of using part-human, part-animal chimeras as living factories for producing cells or organs raises a host of ethical and safety issues.