Organ transplants from 'chimera' pigs face hurdles, say geneticists

Warning of difficulties comes after injection of human stem cells into pig embryos and fears that animals' brains could be altered

Scientists attempting to grow human organs inside pigs will have to overcome significant hurdles before transplants can take place, geneticists have warned.

In a Panorama documentary showing on BBC1 on Monday night, researchers at the University of California, Davis, reveal how they have injected human stem cells into pig embryos to explore the possibility of growing a human pancreas inside a pig. The research could help to solve the current shortage of organs for transplant - a situation that, according to the NHS, leads to around three deaths a day in the UK.