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American surgeons have successfully transplanted the heart of a genetically modified pig into a human body.
It is not yet known if the operation will be a long-term success, but doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center said on January 10 that the procedure showed that an animal’s heart could survive in the human body without immediate rejection.
The operation was performed on January 7 on a patient who could not perform a normal transplant, and was on the verge of death.
“Either I would die, or I would do this transplant. I want to live. I know it’s looking in the dark, but it’s my only option“, Said 57-year-old David Bennett, before the operation.
The heart has been of a pig, whose genes have been altered to eliminate a gene that produces a type of sugar, which would trigger rejection by the human body.
Doctors have also given some additional medication to the patient, in order to stop the immune system from reacting to the organ.
The biotechnology company, Revivicor, which donated the pig’s heart, also offered a pig’s kidney in October, to perform the first kidney transplant of an animal into a human, even though the patient’s brain was dead.
The operation was performed in New York. There is currently a great demand for organ transplants, but there are few available, so this has pushed scientists to look for alternative ways.
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