Medical News Today
18 Jan 2022
A team of surgeons from the University of Maryland School of Medicine recently transplanted a genetically-modified pig heart into a 57-year-old male from Baltimore, MD.
The patient, who had arrhythmia, was not a viable candidate for the heart transplant list or an artificial heart pump.
The pig heart had 10 genetic modifications, including the removal of four pig genes and the addition of six human genes.
The surgical team hopes the continued success of this transplant will provide a new way to help those on the organ donor list.
However, some in the medical community question the ethical considerations of this type of transplant.
Xenotransplantation is the process of transplanting live organs, tissues, or cells from a nonhuman animal into a human.
In the past, most xenotransplantation research focused on using organs from nonhuman primates because they are the closest genetic relatives to humans. However, that research halted due to the unknown but potentially grave risks of transmitting viruses from other primates to humans. That risk still exists with pigs, both from viruses they are known to carry and transmit to humans and from possible, as yet unknown pathogens.
The pigs used for their organs are quite different from those who are killed for meat,” she explained. They are genetically modified in an attempt to prevent rejection and to eliminate some of the known retroviruses that they carry.
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