Pig's Heart to Human Transplant? Over 50 Animals Implanted With Human-Animal Hybrid Embryos for Future Operations

In what sounds like a story taken from a science fiction movie, scientists are attempting to grow human organs in pigs and sheep. The researchers intend to develop major organs that can later be transplanted into humans.

There is a shortage of organs available for transplants all around the world. The NHS Blood and Transplant website stated that in the U.K., over 6600 individuals are in dire need of an organ transplant.

As of 2016, statistics derived from the National Kidney Foundation website revealed that approximately 120,000 people in the US are on the waiting list. Of this number, more than 100,000 need a kidney.

Discovery News reports indicated that this controversial move can help meet the demand for major organs such as hearts and livers.

IFL Science said several groups in the US and various parts of the world are attempting to create chimeras -- mixing human DNA with animals. Scientists add human DNA in the animal's genes to make the organs less likely to be rejected by the human body and more suitable for transplants.

Last year, approximately 20 pigs and sheep have been impregnated with modified embryos.

According to Mirror, the process involved editing the animal's genes so that it does not produce a specific organ. Human stem cells are injected which are designed to replace the missing genes.

The modified embryo is then transplanted into a female pig or sheep. Once the embryo has matured, the scientists will then harvest the organ and transplant it to a human patient.

Daniel Garry, a cardiologist from the University of Minnesota, said this is nothing new.

The Telegraph said Garry leads one of the studies involving the production of chimeras.

"We can make an animal without a heart. We have engineered pigs that lack skeletal muscles and blood vessels," Garry said in a statement to the publication.

Although scientists have yet to produce a successful chimera, animal rights groups have expressed their own sentiments toward the project. Mirror said PETA has labeled the study as "Frankenscience."

"These animals have exactly the same capacity to feel pain and suffer as any other animal, including humans," PETA's Julia Baines commented on the Telegraph.

Hiromitsu Nakauchi, a researcher from the University of Stanford said that it is unlikely that any of the modified embryos will be acting like humans anytime soon.

On the science-based publication, Nakauchi said the human stem cells only constitute approximately 0.5 percent of the animal's total DNA. If it gets to 40 percent, "then we'd have to do something about that."