Chinese scientists create pig stem cells

The achievement could lead to advances in both human and animal health, say the researchers.

"To date, many efforts have been made to establish ungulate pluripotent embryonic stem cells from early embryos without success," said Dr Lei Xiao, who led the research. "This is the first report in the world of the creation of domesticated ungulate pluripotent stem cells. Therefore, it is entirely new, very important and has a number of applications for both human and animal health."

Dr Xiao, who heads the stem cell laboratory at the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, and his colleagues created pluripotent stem cells by using transcription factors to ‘reprogram' cells taken from a pig's ear and bone marrow. The transcription factors were introduced into the cells with a virus, causing them to turn into cells similar to embryonic stem cells. Tests confirmed that the cells were capable of turning into the cell types that make up the three layers of an embryo - endoderm, mesoderm and ectoderm -a quality they share with embryonic stem cells.

Dr Xiao said the cells had various possible applications. They could be used to engineer transgenic animals for organ transplantation, to breed disease-resistant animals, or to enhance the productivity of farmed pigs by modifying the growth-related genes.

The next stage of his research will be to use the cells to generate gene-modified pigs that could provide organs for patients, improve the pig species or be used for disease resistance. The modified animals would be either ‘knock in' pigs where the cells are used to transfer an additional piece of genetic material, such as a piece of human DNA, into the pig's genome, or ‘knock out' pigs where the technology is used to prevent a particular gene from functioning.