British and American scientists are breeding genetically modified pigs in
the hope of providing organs for transplant to humans, the project leader
wrote in a newspaper Sunday.
Scientists in London and California have begun conducting the genetic
experiments to find a solution to record-long waiting lists for organ
transplants, fertility specialist Robert Winston said in an opinion piece
written for Britain's Sunday Times.

In Britain alone, around 8,000 patients are waiting for a transplant.

"People needing a new heart or liver are waiting for someone else to die -
usually a violent death in a traffic accident," Winston wrote in the
newspaper. He said his team was "trying to modify pigs so their organs might
save the lives of humans."

The scientists are introducing human genes into the animals to reduce the
chances of the organs being rejected by patients, as has been common in
previous attempts to use animal tissues, said Wintston, who heads the
Institute of Reproductive and Developmental Biology at London's Hammersmith
Hospital.

Working in tandem with Dr. Carol Redhead of the California Institute of
Technology, Winston's team has injected human genes directly into male
piglets, adding them to the animal's sperm.

He said that pigs involved in experiments had successfully produced
transgenic sperm, but acknowledged that British and European laws had
prevented the team from using the pigs to mate.

The Sunday Times newspaper reported that the experiments would be moved to
the United States following difficulties with funding and regulations in
Britain. It said the pigs would be bred in Missouri.

"Our U.S. friends will benefit from our technology, and yet another British
innovation will be jeopardized; the income we might have generated for
Britain will be lost," Winston wrote.

Some scientists have previously criticized the idea of using animal organs
for human transplant, saying the technique risks spreading animal viruses to
humans. Winston said his research project is attempting to breed virus-free
pigs.

www.checkbiotech.org