January 7, 2022, 57-year-old David Bennett from Maryland (USA) was transplanted with the heart of a genetically modified pig. It was the first such operation. On the evening of January 10, the patient was alive, his new heart was working.
People who need a donor organ do not always live to see a transplant. The quality of life of the rest is often low due to severe illness.
Some other organs can also be taken from living donors, but for various reasons, this is not always possible. Therefore, experts are looking for alternative options.
One of the possible ways is xenotransplantation, that is, organ transplantation from a representative of one animal species to a representative of another. At the moment, xenotransplantation from genetically modified animals, in theory, makes it possible to cope with several causes of organ rejection – a big problem in transplantation. The patient’s immune system attacks the donor organ, causing it to stop working. Therefore, donors and recipients are checked for histocompatibility, and then the patient takes drugs that suppress the immune system for life.
Thanks to the genetic modification of the pig, David Bennett managed to avoid a hyperacute heart rejection reaction. The donor was an animal with a modification in ten genes: four genes were “turned off”, including one that was responsible for the growth of the heart (to prevent the organ from growing inside the patient), and six human genes were added so that the recipient’s immune system would better accept the new heart.
But it is possible to develop other types of rejection, including those that are not affected by the gene modification applied here. So Bennett is receiving conventional drugs that suppress the immune system, as well as a new drug developed with the participation of researchers involved in xenotransplantation.
I know that the heart of a pig and a man has similar things, this is one of the reasons why Muslims (people who practice Islam) do not eat pork. But when I heard about this event, and even it was successful, I was shocked. What technologies and developments of scientists have come to that people can safely transplant animal organs. For me, this is one of the greatest discoveries. I think that this experiment was a success and in the future, we can expect more stories like this.
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Interesting note about why muslims do not eat pigs, but what’s more interesting is that wether this operation is against their religious belief and they’d prefer to die instead of transplanting heart?
I was also interested in this issue but did not find an article on this topic yet. Maybe because this discovery happened only a few days ago. It will be very interesting to watch developments.
The range of possibilities gene-editing gives us is incredible! I’m glad the operation was approved because if successful, this sort of experimental treatment could indefinitely solve the organ shortage crisis. I’ll be sure to follow this case closely, as the next few weeks will be critical for the patient.
I’m glad medical science moves forward. It gives me some spark of hope we would live longer.
This is a very interesting article, I’ve never heard about transplanting pig’s heart, however, I have read some articles about transplanting monkey’s organs. I’m wondering how this solution will develop in the future.In my view, this can be quite controversial as gene manipulation is often not well received in the society.