US-based researchers have successfully grown human cells inside monkey embryos, which has led to ethical concerns about these kinds of scientific experiments.

The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, which carried out the experiment, said that the research could help deal with a shortage in transplant organs and improve understanding about overall human health.

The Salk Institute said that chimeric organisms, where scientists grow the cells of one species within an organism of a different species, offer scientists a “powerful tool for research and medicine.”

The organisation explained that the research could advance understanding of early human development, disease onset, and progression and aging, as well as provide innovative platforms for drug evaluation, and address the critical need for transplantable organs.

The World Health Organisation estimates that the 130,000 organ transplants performed every year represent only 10 per cent of the need.

But experts in the UK have reportedly said that there could be both legal and ethical issues associated with developing these kind of organisms.

“These chimeric approaches could be really very useful for advancing biomedical research not just at the very earliest stage of life, but also the latest stage of life,” said Salk’s Professor Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte, who led the researchers.

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