Recently, German scientists plan to clone and breed genetically modified pigs as human heart donors.
This is based on the successful heart transplant of a man by American medical experts, transplanting the heart of a genetically modified pig into his body.
According to reports, Eckhard Wolf, a scientist at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, said his team aims to have this kind of transmission from Auckland by 2025. A new breed of improved pig breed from Auckland Island is ready for transplant trials.
Last month, a team from the University of Maryland's Department of Medicine transplanted a pig heart that had been modified 10 times into a terminally ill person in the world's first operation to transplant a pig heart into a patient.
Although the risk of infection, organ rejection or high blood pressure remained, the patient's response was good after surgery, the attending physician said.
Our concept, Wolf says, is to take a simpler model of five genetic modifications.
Wolff's team's work has sparked a heated debate in a country with the lowest organ donation rate in Europe and the most active animal rights movement.
(produced by Wu Rui)
Responsible editor: [Liu Pai]