South Korean scientists have discovered ways to prevent monkeys rejecting organ transplants from pigs, paving the way for the use of animal organs and cells in humans, the Korea Times reported yesterday.
The ground-breaking research raises new hopes for millions of people needing heart, liver and kidney transplants, the English-language newspaper said.
The study was led by Hwang Woo-suk, a Seoul National University professor whose team of experts manufactured stem cells by cloning human embryos using human eggs from donors and skin cells from patients.
The stem-cell research announced last week marked a step forward in efforts to make it possible one day to transplant healthy cells into humans to replace cells ravaged by illnesses such as Parkinson's and diabetes.
The Korea Times quoted one of Hwang's fellow researchers, identified only as Kim, as saying the researchers are hoping to transplant hearts and insulin-producing cells from cloned miniature pigs into monkeys by the end of the year.
"We have created dozens of pigs embedded with human immunity genes since late last year. We plan to start transplanting their organs or cells into monkeys as early as late this year," Kim said.
The organs of pigs are almost the same in size as those of humans and their metabolic functions are also similar, he added.
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An earthquake registering a preliminary magnitude of 7.7 off northern Japan on Monday prompted a short-lived tsunami alert and the advisory of a higher risk of a possible mega-quake for coastal areas there. The Cabinet Office and the Japan Meteorological Agency said there was a 1% chance for a mega-quake, compared to a 0.1% chance during normal times, in the next week or so following the powerful quake near the Chishima and Japan trenches. Officials said the advisory was not a quake prediction but urged residents in 182 towns along the northeastern coasts to raise their preparedness while continuing their daily lives. Prime
About 240 Indians claiming descent from a Biblical tribe landed at Tel Aviv airport on Thursday as part of a government operation to relocate them to Israel. The newcomers passed under a balloon arch in blue and white, the colors of the Israeli flag, as dozens of well-wishers welcomed them with a traditional Jewish song. They were the first “bnei Menashe” (“sons of Manasseh”) to arrive in Israel since the government in November last year announced funding for the immigration of about 6,000 members of the community from the states of Manipur and Mizoram in northeast India. The community claims to descend from
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