These are not just philosophical musings. I am not so sure that "never" is a safe response. What if human mini-brains in a dish could "think" or be conscious at a certain level? Some scientists believe that could never happen. But along with that potential come profoundly challenging questions. This powerful research on so-called human "organoids" has tremendous potential for biological research and organ transplants. For example, researchers are now able to grow miniature versions of human brains and other organs from pluripotent stem cells in a dish in the lab. Other tough questions are popping up as well in related areas of cutting-edge research using human pluripotent stem cells. Human chimera work could also shed new light on serious human developmental problems, and even be used to manufacture donor organs-if chimeric embryos are allowed to develop into fetuses. Among other things, this kind of work could lead to discoveries about human brain development, a fascinating, but scientifically very challenging area of study. Human chimeras have great potential to enhance our understanding of human development.
#CHIMERA BIOLOGY SKIN#
It is important to note that this research does not directly use human embryos or fetuses, instead relying on pluripotent stem cells, which can be taken from a person's skin and genetically engineered to be pluripotent-meaning they can develop into nearly any cell type. Human chimeras are mixtures of human cells with rodent, pig, or other animal embryos. On August 4, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that it is poised to reverse a previous policy barring funding from a potentially fruitful area of research involving human chimeras. The recent smear campaign against Planned Parenthood’s fetal tissue practices is just the latest example of how these ongoing attacks have had a chilling effect on laws that might advance human developmental biology research. One big reason is that for a long time, the politics of doing science on human embryos and fetuses have been radioactive. His most recent book is GMO Sapiens: The Life-Changing Science of Designer Babies. Paul Knoepfler ( is a stem cell biologist at UC Davis and writes about science at The Niche.
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