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U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient

apnews.com

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Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient

#51

Post by robbiep »

woke_neoliberal wrote: post #35

The pig was modified to remove presentation of immunogenic sugars on the cell surface. Unfortunately, the recipient needs to be on immunosuppressants the rest of their life. This rekindles discussions back in school about chimeras... in order for the organs to be immunocompatible, the donor needs to be partially human. What % is too human to harvest for organs? I suppose it's still too soon to answer such questions,…

They’re not making the pig more human, they’re removing the markers of ‘foreign’ that would make it an immune target. So it’s a nice vanilla organ that minimally attracts the attention of the immune system.

Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient

#52

Post by TulliusCicero »

josephcsible wrote: post #2

I wonder why an artificial heart wasn't an option here.

I wonder if it's possible that a pig heart might actually be better than an artificial one? I don't know enough about the state of the art in either to even guess myself.

Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient

#53

Post by Vrondi »

melling wrote: post #12

“The Maryland surgeons used a heart from a pig that had undergone gene-editing to remove a sugar in its cells that’s responsible for that hyper-fast organ rejection.” So, we need to genetically engineer the animals

We just need to grow the organs in the lab.

Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient

#54

Post by monkeybutton »

hwbehrens wrote: post #38

If pigs (or any animal) broaden the compatibility to other organs, what are the ethical implications for raising them with the intention to harvest their organs, if any? On one hand, we already raise pigs to kill and eat routinely, and (mostly) people don't care - is this any different than say, buying a pig heart at the market to eat? On the other hand, it does somehow feel different to me, perhaps because sharing o…

What about growing human organs in pigs? Like the pigoons from Oryx and Crake.

http://www.technovelgy.com/ct/content.asp?Bnum=1177

Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient

#55

Post by ricc »

Victerius wrote: post #48
tricky wrote: post #26

You might be asking, why a pig? I don't know, but forever ago I wrote software for a cardiovascular imaging lab and pigs were their primary test subjects. I was like, "why pigs?" and the PI was like, "Imaging-wise, pig hearts aren't too different from humans. Plus, we can give them a heart attack in the scanner and not go to jail. Some labs use dogs. I just can't do that."

What ... happens to the pigs who get accidental heart attacks? Are they ...? Do they ...?

Yes

Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient

#56

Post by fogihujy »

gus_massa wrote: post #43
garren wrote: post #15

I wonder why a pig heart rather than one from another primate? The article mentions a baboon heart in an earlier attempt at xenotransplantation with an infant. Is a pig’s heart as, or more, compatible or is it more a matter of availability?

People love primates, specially big ones, and will get angry if in the future thousands of primates are used for organ harvest. Pigs? People will make jokes like " If I pay for the heart transplant, do I get a free bacon? " (Also, pigs have the correct size to get an organ usable in humans.)

Also, while pigs are naturally curious and definitely aren't dumb, I suspect our primate cousins are closer to us on the conciousness scale.

And yes, bacon. Combine the transplant with an offer on cheap pork, and we'll soon have heart transplants and bacon deliveries as a service. :D

Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient

#57

Post by dnautics »

robbiep wrote: post #51
woke_neoliberal wrote: post #35

The pig was modified to remove presentation of immunogenic sugars on the cell surface. Unfortunately, the recipient needs to be on immunosuppressants the rest of their life. This rekindles discussions back in school about chimeras... in order for the organs to be immunocompatible, the donor needs to be partially human. What % is too human to harvest for organs? I suppose it's still too soon to answer such questions,…

They’re not making the pig more human, they’re removing the markers of ‘foreign’ that would make it an immune target. So it’s a nice vanilla organ that minimally attracts the attention of the immune system.

On the other hand (and I am being flippant... Slightly) how do you know that removing this one gene doesn't unlock consciousness?

Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient

#58

Post by livinglist »

Ensorceled wrote: post #47

Reminder: We've been replacing human heart VALVES with pig valves for a long time now. My grandmother lived for almost a decade after her replacement. https://www.heart-valve-surgery.com/learning/pig-valve-repla...

May I ask how much did it cost and did insurance cover it?

Re: U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient

#59

Post by valachio »

Victerius wrote: post #48
tricky wrote: post #26

You might be asking, why a pig? I don't know, but forever ago I wrote software for a cardiovascular imaging lab and pigs were their primary test subjects. I was like, "why pigs?" and the PI was like, "Imaging-wise, pig hearts aren't too different from humans. Plus, we can give them a heart attack in the scanner and not go to jail. Some labs use dogs. I just can't do that."

What ... happens to the pigs who get accidental heart attacks? Are they ...? Do they ...?

They end up on my dinner plate as a delicious high-protein meal.
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