Interspecific chimaerism between sheep and goat

Abstract

In rodents, chimaeric blastocysts produced by combining embryonic cells of two different species have been used in investigations of cell lineage and interaction during development (Mus musculus-Rattus norvegicus, M. musculus-Clethrionomys glareolus, M. musculus-Mus caroli). However, interspecific chimaerism also offers new approaches to the study of reproductive incompatibilities between species and may even allow such incompatibilities to be neutralized, thus improving the chances of successful hybridization and interspecific embryo transplantation. We report here the production of sheep-goat chimaeras by embryo manipulation and the use of interspecific chimaerism to allow successful interspecific embryo transplantation in sheep and goats.

Interspecies chimeras for human stem cell research

“…Therefore, results reported using mouse embryos might differ from those obtained if the human cells were to be transplanted into embryos of more closely related animals. Indeed, interspecies chimeras have been successfully generated between closely related animals, such as sheep-goat and mouse-rat (Fehilly et al, 1984;Kobayashi et al, 2010). So, although mouse is the most accessible animal in terms of obtaining embryos, when analyzing human cells other hosts more closely related to humans should be considered.…”

In Vitro Production of Embryos: Principles, Techniques and Applications

“…In embryology, chimera refers to a combination of cells from different individuals. The typical method for the creation of chimera is by amalgamating a preimplantation embryo from one species with another from different species like that between a sheep and a goat [18] or between a wild and a domestic mouse [19]. The subsequent embryonic development of the aggregated embryos depend on the trophoblastic tissue which should be similar to the foster mother to lessen the rejection risk.…”

Marked ‘h’ for human: Chimeric life and the politics of the human

“…The sheep-goat chimera (or 'geep') is a good example of this. Created in 1984, this animal chimera had cells from both goat and sheep and thus could be used to test the effect of chemicals on both animals (Fehilly et al, 1984).…”