Surgeons transplant pig heart in human
Date: 17 January 2022 Tags: MiscellaneousIssue
For the first time ever, doctors have managed to transplant heart of a genetically modified pig into a human body.
Background
The patient was ineligible for a conventional or artificial heart due to his medical conditions. Heart from a pig was a last shot.
Details
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Transplanting organs across different species is known as Xenotransplantation. The experiment first took place in 1984 when a baby received a baboon heart.
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The surgery was a success but the baby could not survive owing to the rejection by her body’s immune system.
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However, since many years, pig heart valves have been used to replace damaged human valves.
Need for genetically engineered pig
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The pig was genetically modified to make at least 10 genetic modifications that are needed to prevent rapid rejection of foreign organs by the human body.
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GalSafe pigs were used in the surgery. The pig had undergone genetic modification to remove gene that codes for Alpha-gal (a sugar molecule), which can elicit a devastating immune response in humans.
Modifications in pig
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Carbohydrate antigens were eliminated by removing of the CMAH and Beta-4-Gal genes of the pig.
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To maintain a human-sized organ, the growth hormone receptor gene was also removed.
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Two human anti-coagulant genes (EPCR and Thrombomodulin), and two human immune-modulating genes (CD47 and HO1) were inserted.
Significance
If Xenotransplantation becomes successful in the long run, it would provide humans alternative source for damaged body organs.