Surgeons in the US have recently had their first breakthrough surgery by transplanting a pig’s kidney into a human body. It means that this could be the solution for ending long waiting lists for organ transplants.
Xenotransplantation is the method of transplanting tissues or organs between different species. The concept was first developed in the late 17th century where scientists used animals to perform blood transfusions in humans. The use of xenotransplantation could be vital for solving long waiting lists, as well as increasing the turnaround time at which a patient is offered the transplant surgery.
Surgeons at New York University Langone Health Medical Centre operated for 2 hours to transplant the kidney of a genetically modified pig into a person. The surgery was conducted on a brain-dead person who was on artificial life support and was not able to regain consciousness.
Led by Dr. Robert Montgomery, gene editing therapy was performed on the pig prior to the surgery to remove particular sugar molecules in order to reduce the risk of rejection when inside the patient. The surgery was followed by a 54-hour monitoring period where levels of excretion fraction were continuously measured in the patient. The kidneys were seen to be functioning normally within the body, with zero signs of rejection, possibly due to the addition of the genetically modified gene.
Although the study has not yet been peer-reviewed, there is still hope that xenotransplantation could be the solution to saving the lives of patients who desperately require a kidney transplant. Not only this but there have also been considerations for research on other organ transplants between species including the heart and lungs.
In July of this year, it was found that 7000 people in the UK were waiting for organ transplants, with the majority waiting for a kidney. Furthermore, 474 patients had died from waiting for an organ, the highest it has ever been and possibly caused by the pandemic.
Dr. Montgomery stated that the use of pigs for transplants could be a “sustainable and renewable source of organs”. Xenotransplantation could be the future of surgery, with organ transplants leading to a better quality of life and sometimes increasing life expectancies by 20 to 25 years.
However, both religious and moral-ethical issues must be raised before the surgery is commercially available, such as the prohibition of pigs in Islam as well as the consideration of animal rights and welfare.
