This is the second significant step forward for pig-human heart xenotransplantation this year, and it recently occurred when two genetically modified pig hearts were successfully implanted into human recipients.
However, there is a catch to this. The two patients who were going to get pig organs were persons who had already experienced brain death and were being kept alive on ventilators so that their hearts could be transplanted. People who are now on lengthy waiting lists essential organs will likely have to wait for many years before pig-to-human transplant operations can become dependable, regular possibilities for them.
Even yet, the physician hasn’t given up hope that pig organs may one day become a supply of organs that is both renewable and sustainable so that no one will have to die while they wait. In January, the University of Maryland performed what is believed to be the first ever pig-to-human heart transplant into a patient who was still alive. A heart transplant was performed on a 57-year-old patient who was suffering from a life-threatening cardiac condition.
Because of the ten genetic alterations that were made to them, the two pig hearts that were transplanted into human bodies at NYU this summer were capable of functioning for at least 72 hours after being placed in human bodies. The human transgenes were meant to make human and pig components more compatible with one another. Four of the gene changes that were made were porcine, and their purpose was to avoid transplant rejection and aberrant growth.
Before pig hearts can be routinely transplanted into human recipients, medical professionals will need a greater understanding of how to make altered pig organs more suitable inside the live, moving bodies of humans. This will ensure that the recipients do not reject the transplanted organs. Because cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, there is a significant and growing need for heart transplants.
