Growing Human Organs in Pigs and Mitigating Air Pollution

Growing Human Organs in Pigs

In the fall of 2023, a team of researchers from China published the results of a proof-of-principle study that demonstrated for the first time that it’s possible to grow humanized kidneys in a fetal pig. This work provides the means to study the process of organogenesis that may also alleviate the shortage of organs available for human transplant procedures. However, this research raises all sorts of questions that could be summarized with a single question: “Should we play God?”

In this episode, biochemist Fuz Rana describes the work of the Chinese researchers and offers a Christian perspective on the creation of human-animal chimeras.

Mitigating Air Pollution

Air pollution level in India’s capital territory of Delhi is more than 25 times greater than the maximum human tolerable level set by the World Health Organization (WHO). This pollution is called PM2.5 (inhalable particles with diameters of 2.5 micrometers or less) and is almost entirely composed of black carbon soot, mineral dust, sulfates, nitrates, ammonia, and sodium chloride. Scientists at WHO have determined that the average Indian living in Delhi would live 11.9 years longer if the PM2.5 level there were reduced to WHO’s maximum limit. Nearly all of India’s PM2.5 air pollution comes from the burning of coal, wood, biomass, diesel, gasoline, and oil, in that order. Replacing these fuel sources with natural gas would eliminate all of India’s PM2.5 except for the small contribution from road and construction dust. This replacement would also immediately reduce carbon greenhouse gas emissions by nearly half.   

Links and Resources: 

• Generation of a Humanized Mesonephros in Pigs from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells via Embryo Complementation
• A Theology for Synthetic Biology, Part 1
• A Theology for Synthetic Biology, Part 2
• Air Quality Life Index 2023: Annual Update (August 2023)
• Air Quality Life Index, India Fact Sheet (2023)
• The Relationship between Fine Particle Matter (PM2.5) Exposure and Upper Respiratory Tract Diseases