Stars, Cells, and God | Growing Human Organs in Pigs and Mitigating Air Pollution

Reasons to Believe Podcast

Join Fazale “Fuz” Rana and Hugh Ross as they discuss new discoveries taking place at the frontiers of science that have theological and philosophical implications, including the reality of God’s existence.

Growing Human Organs in Pigs

In the fall of 2023, a team of researchers from China published the results of a proof-of-principle study that demonstrated for the first time that it’s possible to grow humanized kidneys in a fetal pig. This work provides the means to study the process of organogenesis that may also alleviate the shortage of organs available for human transplant procedures. However, this research raises all sorts of questions that could be summarized with a single question: “Should we play God?”

In this episode, biochemist Fuz Rana describes the work of the Chinese researchers and offers a Christian perspective on the creation of human-animal chimeras.

Mitigating Air Pollution

Air pollution level in India’s capital territory of Delhi is more than 25 times greater than the maximum human tolerable level set by the World Health Organization (WHO). This pollution is called PM2.5 (inhalable particles with diameters of 2.5 micrometers or less) and is almost entirely composed of black carbon soot, mineral dust, sulfates, nitrates, ammonia, and sodium chloride. Scientists at WHO have determined that the average Indian living in Delhi would live 11.9 years longer if the PM2.5 level there were reduced to WHO’s maximum limit. Nearly all of India’s PM2.5 air pollution comes from the burning of coal, wood, biomass, diesel, gasoline, and oil, in that order. Replacing these fuel sources with natural gas would eliminate all of India’s PM2.5 except for the small contribution from road and construction dust. This replacement would also immediately reduce carbon greenhouse gas emissions by nearly half.

PODCAST LINKS:

Generation of a Humanized Mesonephros in Pigs from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells via Embryo Complementation

Additional Resources:

A Theology for Synthetic Biology, Part 1

A Theology for Synthetic Biology, Part 2

YOUTUBE LINKS:

Jiaowei Wang et al., “Generation of a Humanized Mesonephros in Pigs from Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells via Embryo Complementation,” https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37683604/

Additional Resources:

Fazale Rana, “A Theology for Synthetic Biology, Part 1,”

https://reasons.org/explore/publications/articles/a-theology-for-synthetic-biology-part-1-of-2

Fazale Rana, “A Theology for Synthetic Biology, Part 2,” https://reasons.org/explore/publications/articles/a-theology-for-synthetic-biology-part-2-of-2

PODCAST LINKS:

Air Quality Life Index 2023: Annual Update (August 2023)

Air Quality Life Index, India Fact Sheet (2023)

The Relationship between Fine Particle Matter (PM2.5) Exposure and Upper Respiratory Tract Diseases

YOUTUBE LINKS:

Michael Greenstone and Christa Hasenkopf, Air Quality Life Index 2023: Annual Update (August 2023),https://aqli.epic.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/AQLI_2023_Report-Global.pdf

Air Quality Life Index, India Fact Sheet (2023), https://aqli.epic.uchicago.edu/wp-content/uploads/2023/08/India-FactSheet-2023_Final.pdf

Łukasz Zaręba et al., “The Relationship between Fine Particle Matter (PM2.5) Exposure and Upper Respiratory Tract Diseases,” https://www.mdpi.com/2075-4426/14/1/98