Sheep bred without kidneys grew them from another sheep's cells — an early step toward growing organs in animals
Scientists switched off a gene that sheep need to build kidneys, so their fetuses grew none. Adding a few cells from another sheep into the very early embryo restored normal-looking kidneys by day 48 of pregnancy.
Why it matters
Around the world, people die waiting for a kidney transplant. One long-term idea is to grow a replacement organ inside a farm animal, using cells from the patient. This work shows the basic trick can work in sheep: empty the space where the kidney should be, then let donor cells fill it. But this was sheep cells inside sheep, not human cells, and the pregnancies were stopped less than halfway through. No lamb was born, and human cells may behave very differently.
Who's behind it: S. J. Appleby, B. Oback and colleagues, AgResearch and the University of Auckland, New Zealand.
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