Biotech & Medicine

Two More Gene-Edited Pig Hearts Successfully Transplanted Into Humans 

Researchers in New York have transplanted pig hearts into two brain-dead people over the past month, the latest in a long quest to one day save human lives with animal organs.

“It was one of the most incredible experiences to see a pig’s heart fluttering and beating in a human chest,” said Dr. Robert Montgomery, director of the Langone Transplant Institute at New York University, where transplants were performed, at a press conference.

One of the transplants took place in mid-June, and the other on July 6. However, there is one “but”. Both transplant patients are brain-dead people, but their hearts continued to beat with the help of machines. It will likely be years before pig-to-human transplant procedures become a viable option for patients on long waiting lists for hearts, kidneys and other vital organs.

Two pig hearts transplanted this summer at New York University have successfully functioned for 72 hours in a human body. The organs were constructed using 10 genetic modifications. Four modifications altered pig genes to prevent transplant rejection and abnormal growth. Six are inserted human transgenes designed to be more compatible.

Before pig heart transplants become commonplace, doctors need to better understand how to make modified pig organs more compatible with human bodies.  Researchers and surgeons will also have to make sure they don’t transmit some unforeseen infection.

It is possible that such operations will become commonplace within the next 10 years. This is all the more important given that cardiovascular diseases are among the leading causes of death worldwide.

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