New hope for organ transplantation pig kidney successfully implanted into human body for the first time

Recently, important progress has been made in xenotransplantation technology.

Today's viewpoint

◎Intern reporter Zhang Jiaxin

Recently, a number of foreign media reported that surgeons in New York, the United States, successfully transplanted pig kidneys into humans, and did not immediately trigger rejection by the human immune system

On September 25, at the New York University Langone Medical Center, researchers performed an operation called a xenotransplantation

The transplanted kidney worked for 54 hours

Dr.

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Xenotransplantation has a long history and refers to the process of grafting or transplanting organs and tissues between different species

In the 1960s, the kidneys of chimpanzees were transplanted into a small number of human patients

Compared with primates such as monkeys and apes, pigs have more advantages in organ acquisition: they are easier to raise, have more litters, mature faster, and can reach adult size within 6 months.

Early studies have shown that pig kidneys can survive in non-human primates for up to a year, but this is the first attempt on human patients

For decades, researchers have been studying the possibility of using animal organs for transplantation, but they have been blocked on how to prevent immediate rejection by the human body

Last December, the U.

Important breakthrough: Bringing new hope to thousands of organ transplant patients

According to data from the Organ Sharing United Network, in the United States, there are currently nearly 107,000 people waiting for an organ transplant, of which more than 90,000 are waiting for a kidney transplant

In response to the success of this xenotransplantation experiment, Surgeon Hynek Meganthal of the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom said in a statement, "This is a major scientific achievement in the field of xenotransplantation

United Therapeutics CEO Martina Rossblatt said in a statement: "This is an important step in realizing the promise of xenotransplantation.

Montgomery said that what happens three weeks, three months, and three years after transplantation is still a problem, but at least know now that it will be fine in the early stages

He plans to submit the results of the study to scientific journals next month, and said that clinical trials may be carried out within a year or two

Some experts are cautious about this news, but they said they would like to see peer-reviewed data before reaching a definitive conclusion
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In addition, the FDA stated that it needs to submit more documents before transplanting pig organs into living humans
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Currently, other researchers are considering whether GalSafe pigs can become a source of transplanted organs from heart valves to skin for human patients
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