Study on “Human-derived pancreas production in pig” study

Study on “Human-derived pancreas production in pigs” study Approved National expert meeting December 23 13:12

A national expert meeting has approved a study aimed at producing human-derived pancreas in pigs using human iPS cells. This is the first study approved for the purpose of producing an organ for transplantation in pigs using iPS cells.

The study was planned by a group of Prof. Hiroshi Nagashima and others at Meiji University, and was discussed at the MEXT expert meeting held on March 23.

The plan involves injecting a few to 20 human iPS cells into fertilized eggs of swine that have been genetically engineered to prevent pancreas production.

Then, when the fertilized egg is returned to the pig's uterus, it is said that a pancreas containing human cells will be formed in the pig's fetus, and after about 30 days, it will be verified how much human cells are contained. Is.

At the Experts' Meeting, there was an opinion that the progress of the research should be reported so as not to cause ethical issues, but the deliberations were approved.

It was forbidden to return fertilized eggs of animals containing human cells to the uterus, but the ban was lifted in March, and the University of Tokyo group was approved by the government, and the body of the rat using iPS cells was used. We are conducting research aiming to create a pancreas.

Transplantation of human-made organs into animals is banned, and this project is only a basic study, but pigs are considered to be similar in size to humans, and in the future, It is attracting attention as it leads to organ making technology.

According to Professor Nagashima, "We are at the stage of entering the early stage of research toward the goal of making organs. We want to pursue research with a sense of speed."