2020 Vol. 11, No. 2

Primate embryonic stem cells (ESCs), which have similar pluripotency to human ESCs, are a good model for studying interspecies chimerism and organ generation. In this study, Zhou et al. report an optimized culture medium that enhanced the anti-apoptotic ability of cmESCs and improved the development of chimeric embryos, in which domesticated cmESCs (D-ESCs) injected into pig blastocysts differentiated into cells of all three germ layers. Authors obtained two neonatal interspecies chimeras, in which they observed tissue-specific D-ESC differentiation. Taken together, the results demonstrate the capability of D-ESCs to integrate and differentiate into functional cells in a porcine model, with a chimeric ratio of 0.001–0.0001 in different neonate tissues. This work will facilitate future developments in xenogeneic organogenesis