A surgeon attached a pig's kidney to a person and it began to work. This is a small step in the long-running quest to use animal organs for life-saving transplants.
The most recent focus for organ shortage research has been on pigs. However, a sugar found in the cells of pigs, which is not compatible with the human body, causes organ rejection. This experiment used a kidney from an animal that was genetically modified to remove the sugar and prevent an immune system attack.
Two days later, surgeons attached the pig's kidney to two large blood vessels that were outside the body of the deceased recipient. The kidney performed its job, producing urine and filtering waste. It did not cause rejection.
Dr Robert Montgomery, who was the surgeon in charge of the surgical team at NYU Langone Health in New York City, stated that it had a perfectly normal function. We weren't concerned about the immediate rejection.
This research was a significant step according to Dr Andrew Adams of the University of Minnesota's medical school. He was not involved in the work. It will provide assurance to patients, regulators and researchers that the direction was moving in the right direction.
The 17th century saw the first attempts at using animal blood for transfusions. This is when xenotransplantation or animal-to-human transplants began to take shape. Surgeons began to attempt transplants of organs from babyoons into human beings by the beginning of the 20th century. One example was Baby Fae, an infant who died 21 days after receiving a baboon heart.
Scientists tried to make the species gap bridge between primates and pigs but to no avail. There was much public outcry.
Pigs are more intelligent than monkeys and other apes. Pigs are bred for food so there are fewer ethical issues. Pigs are known for having large litters and short gestation times. They also have organs that are comparable to human beings.
Humans have used pig heart valves for many decades. Heparin, a blood thinner made from pig intestines, is also derived from them. Pig skin grafts can be used to treat burns. Chinese surgeons also use pig corneas for sight restoration.
After her family had agreed to the experiment, NYU researchers kept the body of a woman who died on a ventilator. Although the woman wanted to donate her organs for traditional donation, they weren't suitable.
Montgomery stated that Montgomery's family believed there was potential for some good from the gift.
Montgomery received a transplant three-years ago. It was a human heart that was donated by a person with hepatitis C. Montgomery was open to taking any organ. He said that he was one of those people who waited in an ICU, not knowing if an organ would arrive in time.
Many biotech companies are working to create suitable pig organs that can be transplanted to alleviate the human organ shortage. A total of 90,000 Americans are waiting for a kidney transplant. Every day, 12 people die while waiting.
This is a victory for Revivicor (a subsidiary of United Therapeutics), the company that engineered and raised the pigs. It was a 100-member herd, which was kept under strict control at an Iowa facility.
Pigs do not have a gene for alpha-gal. This sugar triggers an immediate immune response from the human body.
The gene alteration of Revivicor pigs was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration in December as safe for human consumption and medical use.
However, the FDA stated that developers would have to submit additional paperwork before organs from pigs can be transplanted into human beings.
Martine Rothblatt, chief executive of United Therapeutics, stated that this is a significant step towards realizing the promise of xenotransplantation. It will save thousands of lives every year in the near future.
Experts believe that the experiments with nonhuman primates as well as the experiment with a human body will pave the way to the first experimental pig heart or kidney transplants in living persons.
Some people feel that raising pigs for organ donation is wrong. However, Karen Maschke, a researcher at the Hastings Center, will help to develop ethics and policy recommendations to support the first clinical trials funded by the National Institutes of Health.
Maschke stated that the other issue will be: Should we do this because it is possible?
