Pigs have emerged as the best animal organ donors, with several living patients in the United States having received pig kidneys or hearts in the last few years.
But with a huge and growing demand for liver donations across the world, researchers hope that gene-edited pigs can offer at least temporary relief to seriously ill patients on long waiting lists.
A liver from a miniature pig, which had six edited genes to make it a better donor, was transplanted into a brain-dead adult at the hospital on March 10, 2024, according to the study.
- ‘Bridge organ’ -
The hope is that this kind of transplant can serve as a “bridge organ” to support the existing liver of sick people waiting on a human donor.
The pig liver “functioned really well” and “smoothly secreted bile” as well as producing the key protein albumin, study co-author Lin Wang of the Xi’an hospital told a press conference.
Other researchers also hailed the breakthrough but emphasised that this early step could not confirm whether the pig organ would work as a replacement for human livers.
Livers filter the body’s blood, breaking down things like drugs and alcohol, as well as producing bile that carries away waste and breaks down fats.
More research is needed -- including studying the pig liver for more than 10 days, he added.
- ‘Impressive’ -
However, “this is not a replacement for liver transplantation from human donors (at least in the near-term),“ he told AFP in an email.
Lin emphasised that collaboration with US researchers was crucial.
Last year, scientists at the University of Pennsylvania attached a pig liver to a brain-dead patient -- but instead of being transplanted, the organ remained outside the body.
But Towana Looney, 53, is back home in Alabama after receiving a pig kidney on November 25, 2024.
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