The surgeon who performed the first-of-its-kind procedure on a man who survived a heart transplant from a genetically altered pig said that the man carried signs of a virus that the animals are known to carry.
One of the most pressing objections to animal-to-human transplants is that widespread use of modified animal organs may facilitate the introduction of new pathogens into the human population.
A transplant surgeon at the University of Maryland School of Medicine said that the patient's death may have been caused by the presence of viral DNA.
The comments were first reported by MIT Technology Review.
The pig's organs were genetically modified so that they wouldn't be rejected by the human immune system. The patient's heart was donated by Revivicor, a company based in Blacksburg, Va.
Company officials didn't comment on Thursday. The animal had been screened for a virus. The tests only pick up infections that are active, not those that are hidden in the pig's body.
Mr. Bennett's transplant was initially successful. The pig's heart continued to function for over a month after he did not show signs of rejecting the organ.
The test indicated the presence of porcine CMV in Mr. Bennett, but at a low level, which might have been a lab error. After 45 days after the surgery, Mr. Bennett became ill, and subsequent tests showed a rise in levels of the virus.
We started to think that the actor may have been the one who set this all off because the virus that showed up very early at Day 20 started to grow in time.
He said that Mr. Bennett's health deteriorated 45 days after the surgery.
He looked really funky at Day 45. He looked sick. He lost his focus. He wouldn't talk to us. He was breathing hard and was warm.
There is a dire shortage of donated human organs, and several new transplants in recent months offer hope to tens of thousands of patients who need new hearts, lungs, and kidneys.
The use of genetically modified organs may be discouraged by the possibility of unforeseen consequences and the introduction of an animal disease into the human population.
Many scientists believe that the coronaviruses was transmitted from an animal to people in China.
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