Organ transplants are often the final treatment option for people with severe organ failure. Still, their success depends heavily on having enough donor organs, something the medical field continues to struggle with. Because of this shortage, scientists are placing high hopes on organ regeneration as a future solution. One major goal in regenerative medicine is to grow human organs from pluripotent stem cells. Recently, researchers have made progress in creating organs with complex structures and functions using these stem cells. Reproductive biology has also become essential in developing new strategies for organ regeneration. This review explores how animal biotechnology, especially using pigs, could serve as a platform for growing human organs in the future.
Link to article ; https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0093691X16300954
Additional source: https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Generating-exogenic-human-organs-in-interspecies-chimeras-using-blastocyst_fig1_373257214
Commentary: Researchers have successfully grown human-compatible organs in pigs using advanced stem cell technologies. This process involves editing pig embryos so that they cannot form a particular organ, then inserting human induced pluripotent stem cells to grow the organ in its place. This breakthrough could solve the organ transplant shortage and save countless lives. However, it also raises ethical concerns about chimeras and the boundaries between species. The research shows how genetics and biotechnology can transform medicine in ways that push ethical and scientific limits.
Although there may be ethical concerns against growing human organs within pigs, I think that the benefits outweigh the costs. Many people, spend years on a waiting list just for a chance for an organ. If more advancements were made in this process, the waitlist would become a thing of the past, allowing people with grim futures to live long plentiful lives.
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