Genetic engineering and the prospects for organ transplantation in the new episode of the "Russia Speaks" podcast
A new episode of the "Russia Speaks" podcast, entitled "Genetic Engineering: From Transplantation Medicine to Cloning", has been published on the National Centre RUSSIA website. It focuses on modern biotechnology, the creation of animal donors for organ transplantation in humans and the prospects for genetic engineering in medicine. The Director General of M-Genomika and a specialist in genetics, embryology and biotechnology, Eduard Chuyko, discussed a unique project to create genetically modified animals for xenotransplantation — a technology that could eventually help address the shortage of donor organs.
The new episode explores the transition from experiments with transgenic mice to large animals, the use of CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing and cloning through somatic cell nuclear transfer. Eduard Chuyko explains which changes need to be made to donors' genomes for their organs to be suitable for transplantation into humans and assesses the realistic timeframe for creating the first such animal.
Particular attention is paid to ethical and economic issues: where the boundaries of acceptable genetic editing lie, what risks new technologies pose and why they cannot be developed without public dialogue. The expert also discusses the potential applications of genetic engineering in agriculture and considers what medicine may look like by 2035.
The podcast is available to watch on the National Centre RUSSIA website.
The original project "Russia Speaks" continues the tradition of open discussion about scientific discoveries and technologies that are already shaping our vision of the future.
