Here’s What’s Next for Pig Organ Transplants

The night before the transplant, the surgeon had trouble sleeping. When he woke up around 3 am, he forgot to put his mug under the machine and ended up with coffee all over the floor.

The operation he was about to perform became just like any other heart transplant when he arrived in the operating room. There was only one difference, the pig was the organ donor. A man with a failing heart received the gift.

The University of Maryland Medical Center was about to perform the first transplant of a pig heart into a human being. David Bennett was too sick to be considered for a transplant. The Maryland group undertook the experimental procedure as a last-ditch effort to save Bennett.

The procedure went well. We just locked it in, did what we were trained to do, and once we made an incision, we were operating on a patient. An incompatibility with the human immune system is one of the risks associated with xenotransplantation. The heart wasn't immediately rejected by the man's immune system thanks to a series of genetic modifications Bennett died 60 days after his transplant, and scientists are still trying to understand what happened.

The transplant was considered a success despite the patient's death. The Maryland experiment shows that a pig heart can support a human's life for at least six weeks.

The field had more than one milestone in the year 2022. The first peer-reviewed study about the successful transplant of pig kidneys into a brain-dead person was published a few weeks after that. During the 77-hour study, the organs worked normally. In July, surgeons at New York University were able to transplant pig hearts into people who had passed away.

The work marks a turning point according to the person who wasn't involved in the work. Recent human experiments show that researchers are eager to prove that pig organs can work in people as well. There will be more transplants in the near future. Human clinical trials in Maryland and Alabama are expected to start in the next year or two.

Demand for transplantable human organs far outstrips the supply, so scientists are turning to animals as potential donors. There are more than 105,000 people on the transplant list in the United States. Scientists think pig organs that have been genetically modified to be compatible with the human body could help alleviate the shortage. Douglas Anderson is a transplant surgeon with the Alabama team. There isn't enough organs from living and dead donors.