Japan eases rules on animal transplants to humans

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Mon, October 2, 2023 | 16:46

Science

Japan eases rules on animal transplants to humans

Posted : 2016-04-12 17:23

Updated : 2016-04-12 17:37

The Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare of Japan/Courtesy of Yonhap

By Lee Jin-a

Japan is moving to allow animal cells or organs to be transplanted into humans, a Japanese news outlet said Sunday.

The Asahi Shimbun said the Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare will revise its transplantation rules, making it possible for doctors to transplant animal cells or organs into people from next month.

Under the revised rules, Japanese research centers will be able to transplant pig cells into patients who have type-I diabetes. The transplants will make it possible for diabetes patients to live without insulin injections, according to the newspaper.

It said many countries have developed "cross-species transplantation technology," which includes transplanting animal cells into humans, as a solution to the chronic shortage of donated human organs and tissues. They mainly use pig organs for cross-species transplantation due to their size and convenience to manage, according to the Asahi Shimbun.