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Surgeons prepare genetically engineered pig heart for transplant University of Maryland School of Medicine
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FOR the first time, a human has been given a transplant of a pig’s
heart. David Bennett, 57, had the operation in Baltimore, Maryland, on 7
January using a heart that had been genetically modified to boost the
chances of acceptance in a human body.
The donated heart came from a pig developed by US firm Revivicor.
In total, the animal had 10 genes modified. Four of those were
inactivated, including one that causes an aggressive immune response and
one that would otherwise cause the pig’s heart to continue growing
after transplant into a human body.
To further increase the chances of acceptance, the donor pig had six
human genes inserted into its genome and Bennett is taking
immune-suppressing medications. As this story went to press, Bennett was
coping well with the new heart, but hadn’t yet been taken off a
heart-lung bypass machine supporting its. function .
Transplants from other animals, known as xenotransplantation, have
long been seen as a way to save the lives of the thousands of people who
die each year while waiting for an organ transplant.
The chief concern is whether our immune systems will accept such
transplants, as organ rejection can happen even between carefully
immunologically matched human donors and recipients.
Bennett was approved to have the risky procedure as he was too sick to
go on the waiting list to get a human heart. If he is successfully taken
off the bypass machine and continues to stay well, it could open the
door to such transplants for a growing pool of other people. It could
also lead to pig-to-human transplants of kidneys, livers and lungs in
future.
