Science on the Farm for Kids | AG | kmaland.com – KMAland

QUESTION:What would happen if you put a DNA sample from a human into another creature?

ANSWER:If were talking about a cross between a human and a Holstein cow, well thats not going to happen. But animal-human hybrid work has been going on for a number of years in labs all around the world. Thousands of animals contain human cells or deoxyribonucleic acid DNA. Most of those are mice with a single gene sequence of human origin.

There are mice with human-like livers that allow scientists to study the effects of drugs. Some lab monkeys carry a human form of the Huntingtons disease gene that permits scientists to investigate the development of that disease. There are sheep and pigs with bits of human organs growing inside them. The goal is that the animals will grow organs that can be used by humans.

Pig-heart valves have been implanted in humans for some years now. Theres hope that pig cells can be used for diabetes treatment. Fetal-pig neurons have been implanted into the brains of people with Parkinsons disease. Pig-liver cells have been used experimentally to cleanse the blood of people with liver failure, hoping to keep them alive until a donor can be found.

Stem cells have been created by inserting human genomes into rabbit eggs. Researchers have made mice with human prostate glands. Several sheep now live with a half-human liver. DNA from humans is inserted into bacteria to recreate the insulin gene; the insulin is used for many diabetic patients nationwide.

The goal of all that recombinant DNA technology research is to save lives and to study drugs and diseases. We cant use people in gruesome but necessary experiments. In stem-cell research human cells are the therapy. Under federal U.S. Food and Drug Administration rules one must test them in animals before testing them in people.

Some recent research has been truly exciting. They are doing to brain cells what they have previously done with liver and kidney cells. There are now humanized mice with Alzheimers symptoms. Neurological disorders kill 7 million people every year.

What has been described above is not the same as whole-body cloning. Cloning is the process of creating an identical copy of an organism. Dolly, a sheep, was cloned in 1996 in Scotland; she lived for six years. A cell was taken from her biological mother, transferred into the egg of a female sheep, implanted into a surrogate mother, grew into a fetus and eventually into an identical baby copy of the original animal.

Dolly was controversial and cloning is not simple. The success rate is terrible. Dolly was born after 277 eggs were used to create 29 embryos, which produced three lambs. Only one lived.

Theres talk about bringing back extinct species by cloning dead specimens and growing them in the wombs of similar animals. The Wooly Mammoth has been extinct since 1700 B.C. but the DNA of those creatures has been preserved intact in the frozen ice of the Russian tundra. That DNA transfer as well as cloning have raised serious moral and ethical issues. Consider whether we should be tampering with Mother Nature. Risks and benefits need to be looked at. Science may be ahead of rules and regulations in that area.

At KMA, we attempt to be accurate in our reporting. If you see a typo or mistake in a story, please contact us by emailing kmaradio@kmaland.com.

Larry Scheckel is the author of Seneca Seasons: A Farm Boy Remembers. He grew up on a family farm in the hill country of southwestern Wisconsin, one of nine children. His teaching career stretched to more than 38 years teaching physics and aerospace science to more than 4,000 high school students at Tomah, Wisconsin.

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Science on the Farm for Kids | AG | kmaland.com - KMAland