Successful transplant of two genetically modified pig hearts to two brain-dead people

The move brings humanity closer to a long-term goal of transferring pig organs to humans to solve the problem of human organ shortage.

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New York University surgeons have successfully transferred genetically modified pig hearts to two brain-dead people, researchers said yesterday, a move that brings humanity closer to a long-term goal of transplanting pig organs to humans to solve the problem of human organ deficiency.

The surgeons indicated in a press conference that the two hearts functioned normally without evidence of their rejection during the three-day trials last June and July.

The experiments came after the death of a 57-year-old man from a heart condition last March, after he underwent a historic operation two months earlier at the University of Maryland as the first person to transplant a genetically modified pig heart.

The reasons for this heart failure in the end are still unclear.

The researchers explained that New York University purchased the hearts of the two pigs, which were modified by Revivor and tested for viruses using an enhanced monitoring protocol.

The two hearts showed no evidence of a swine virus called cytomegalovirus in pigs, which was discovered in the blood of the Maryland man and may have contributed to his death.

Four genetic modifications were made to the pigs to prevent rejection of the hearts and abnormal growth of the two organs, and six were made to help overcome incompatibilities between pigs and humans.

Researchers at New York University had also transplanted the kidneys of two pigs to brain-dead people in 2021.

Researchers currently believe that foreign organ transplantation is safer in brain-dead patients than in living patients, and is also more beneficial because samples can be taken and tests performed more often.

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