Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • OUTLOOK

The chimaera challenge

The ability to develop animals that have human organs could save the lives of people waiting for transplants, but ethical issues still need to be faced.
  1. Liam Drew

    1. Liam Drew is a freelance writer based near London.

    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed  Google Scholar

Artisitic representation of chimaeric cells

Credit: Markos Kay

It’s 2036, and you have kidney failure. Until recently, this condition meant months or years of gruelling dialysis, while you hoped that a suitable donor would emerge to provide you with replacement kidneys. Today, thanks to a new technology, you’re going to grow your own.

Access options

Rent or buy this article

Prices vary by article type

from$1.95

to$39.95

Learn more

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Nature 597, S12-S14 (2021)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-021-02624-1

This article is part of Nature Outlook: Stem cells, an editorially independent supplement produced with the financial support of third parties. About this content.

References

  1. Kobayashi, T. et al. Cell 142, 787–799 (2010).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  2. Yamaguchi, T. et al. Nature 542, 191–196 (2017).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  3. Matsunari, H. et al. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 110, 4557–4562 (2013).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  4. Tan, T. et al. Cell 184, 2020–2032 (2021).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  5. Crane, A. T. et al. Stem Cell Rep. 15, 804–810 (2020).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. De Los Angeles, A., Hyun, I., Latham, S. R., Elsworth, J. D. & Redmond, D. E. Jr Methods Mol. Biol. 2005, 221–231 (2019).

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

Download references

Subjects

Latest on:

Nature Careers

Jobs

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing

Search

Advanced search

Quick links