In a First, Man Receives a Heart From a Genetically Altered Pig (nytimes.com) 91
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The New York Times: A 57-year-old man with life-threatening heart disease has received a heart from a genetically modified pig, a groundbreaking procedure that offers hope to hundreds of thousands of patients with failing organs. It is the first successful transplant of a pig's heart into a human being. The eight-hour operation took place in Baltimore on Friday, and the patient, David Bennett Sr. of Maryland, was doing well on Monday, according to surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center. "It creates the pulse, it creates the pressure, it is his heart," said Dr. Bartley Griffith, the director of the cardiac transplant program at the medical center, who performed the operation. "It's working and it looks normal. We are thrilled, but we don't know what tomorrow will bring us. This has never been done before."
The heart transplant comes just months after surgeons in New York successfully attached the kidney of a genetically engineered pig to a brain-dead person. Researchers hope procedures like this will usher in a new era in medicine in the future when replacement organs are no longer in short supply for the more than half a million Americans who are waiting for kidneys and other organs. "This is a watershed event," said Dr. David Klassen, the chief medical officer of the United Network for Organ Sharing and a transplant physician. "Doors are starting to open that will lead, I believe, to major changes in how we treat organ failure." But he added that there were many hurdles to overcome before such a procedure could be broadly applied, noting that rejection of organs occurs even when a well-matched human donor kidney is transplanted.
The heart transplant comes just months after surgeons in New York successfully attached the kidney of a genetically engineered pig to a brain-dead person. Researchers hope procedures like this will usher in a new era in medicine in the future when replacement organs are no longer in short supply for the more than half a million Americans who are waiting for kidneys and other organs. "This is a watershed event," said Dr. David Klassen, the chief medical officer of the United Network for Organ Sharing and a transplant physician. "Doors are starting to open that will lead, I believe, to major changes in how we treat organ failure." But he added that there were many hurdles to overcome before such a procedure could be broadly applied, noting that rejection of organs occurs even when a well-matched human donor kidney is transplanted.
Re:Is it Kosher though? NYT ironically left that d (Score:5, Insightful)
Re: (Score:2)
Even many who would never willingly eat pork would accept the procedure for the purpose of preserving life.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
If it turns out that the only way to do a certain medical procedure is to bow down in front of a statue of Baal, yes a lot of Jews don't do that. This seems like a really unlikely scenario.
Seems entirely likely if they happen to be in the clutches of an outfit like the Taliban or ISIS.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
https://www.smh.com.au/world/middle-east/israel-police-may-use-pig-fat-to-stop-attacks-on-buses-20040213-gdicg6.html
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Any organ transplant (even blood transfer) is not kosher.
Any citation for that?
Never heard about it.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
There is nuance around donations that occur while the heart is still beating. ... interesting, Cthulhu!
That sounds
Re: (Score:2)
If you figure Cannibalism isn't Kosher as well, I figure for most of the Jewish and Muslim sects out there they can probably allow it. However there are a bunch of people who will come up with some far fetched reason to any medical procedure is against their religion. However, for may of these people when faced with the consequences of not doing the procedure they will often break away from their religion, as being alive and ostracized from your religion, is better than being dead.
Re: Is it Kosher though? NYT ironically left that (Score:1)
Anything that saves a life is allowed. While a kosher animal would be preferred, anytime a life is saved, Jewish law is lenient in that regard.
Eat garbage food like bacon... (Score:2)
Monstrous! (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Clog up your arteries.
Then transplant the poor pig's heart into your body.
Bonus if you get to take the rest of the pig home and barbeque it.
Imagine explaining that at a picnic.
Call me when you can create pigs (Score:2)
from genetically altered hearts.
Goodbye world hunger!
Re: (Score:2)
Call me when I can have a horse penis
(and an elephant heart to keep it at full pressure).
Re: (Score:2)
Still won't make it legal for you to continue having sex with horses.
Re: (Score:2)
Why would it be illegal to have sex with consenting horses?
Re: (Score:2)
Horses are unable to consent.
Re: (Score:2)
Strange, I thought they can run and kick you in the balls, or head ...
Re: (Score:2)
On a longer distance, a man can run faster than a horse. There's even a shortish race in England (several hours off-road) where riders and runners have relatively comparable times (it's something I saw at TV, I don't know of a web resource and quick searches lead to hippodrome racing and bets).
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, that has to do with two things:
* how to cool your body
* how the muscles work
Many animals (no idea about horses in general) are super strong, like Gorillas, Chimps etc. e.g. Because they can use nearly 100% of their muscle fibres all the time.
Humans however usually only use about 30%. - 40% of their muscles, the rest is resting. That enhances endurance.
On top of that humans can specialize, e.g. into endurance, speed or power. By adequate training. Same for wolves/dogs. Most other animals either simply
Re: (Score:2)
> Strange, I thought they can run and kick you in the balls, or head ...
For a wild horse sure, but for a 'broken' horse not so much.
Re: (Score:2)
Then you might like Sorry to Bother You [imdb.com] by Boots Riley.
I'd like to know (Score:2)
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
According to an article I read https://www.bbc.com/news/world... [bbc.com], the patient actually needs more immunosuppression, but at least he has a chance.
Re:I'd like to know (Score:5, Informative)
There is a sugar present in a pig heart that causes immediate rejection. They removed it.
So the patient most definitely still needs immunosuppressants. But this is huge progress.
Re: (Score:2)
Immunosuppressants are definitely needed. Pig organs normally contain a sugar called alpha-gal that causes rejection in humans no matter how much immunosuppression is used. The modifications eliminate that and maybe some other factors, but the organ still won't be close to a 100% match. If the current organs are a success though, they can work on various lines of them that will be as compatible as possible with people with varying factors. At some point, maybe they will be able to get this to the point wher
Re: (Score:2)
"Obviously this all raises ethical questions about the life of the pig"
Yes, a medical pig will be pampered compared to any pig in the wild, and also compared to any pig in a pig farm. Not even ethical agriculture can grow a pig as pampered as one that is grown for organ transplants.
Re: (Score:2)
"Obviously this all raises ethical questions about the life of the pig"
Yes, a medical pig will be pampered compared to any pig in the wild, and also compared to any pig in a pig farm. Not even ethical agriculture can grow a pig as pampered as one that is grown for organ transplants.
Not really arguing against that... Well, "happy as a pig in muck" is an expression for a reason and these pigs will probably be raised indoors in more sterile conditions out of the sun and the weather. They will also probably be fed a healthy, scientifically formulated diet rather than the slop pigs usually get. The pigs might actually like the slop better. Farm pigs generally seem to be pretty happy right up until the end.
Still they certainly won't be mistreated. That's, once again, right up until the end,
Re: (Score:2)
There are people that won't even accept blood transfusions - and very few surgeons that accept to operate on them (as any significant blood loss will kill them in seconds, not in the minutes a transfusion permits).
Some might not accept human organs for religious reasons (how could you be happy in paradise without a liver?) but accept animal organs (as an Orthodox priest told my mom, cats do not have souls. I would venture that in this case, neither do pigs).
Re: (Score:2)
There are indeed all sorts of reasons why people might not accept animal organs, human organs, etc. I suppose that pig organs would be great for people who won't accept a human organ but have no issue with an animal one, as long as they don't also have an issue with the particular animal. In the end, it will be good to have options that are acceptable for as many people as possible. I almost said options that are acceptable for everyone, but I imagine there's some small number of people who won't accept any
Re: (Score:1)
I don't think that leaves any questions at all. When people choose to reject natural law nobody need go out of their way to bend nature to accommodate. There are still so many areas in which we still need to bend it for the benefit of those who aren't fabricating needless additional problems.
What I find ironic about this sort of positi
Re: (Score:2)
I don't think that leaves any questions at all. When people choose to reject natural law nobody need go out of their way to bend nature to accommodate. There are still so many areas in which we still need to bend it for the benefit of those who aren't fabricating needless additional problems.
"Natural law"? We're talking about organ transplants and medicine (as well as advanced technology like growing organs in vats). There's nothing really natural about any of that. "Natural law" doesn't even come into this. You save as many lives as you can. Sure, the people who refuse a particular treatment are problematic, but that doesn't mean that you just cast them aside. More effort may be spent on developing life-saving methods for the majority, of course, but you don't just turn around and say, "Ok, we
Re: I'd like to know (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Well, an organ farm for humans that the Matrix AIs actually secretly serve would have been a much better explanation than the insanely stupid battery explanation. In order to help my suspension of disbelief I always had to assume that the battery thing was just propaganda that the humans and possibly most of the AIs had been tricked into believing to hide some deeper purpose. Of course, in science fiction, the reason usually given for clones grown for organ harvest to actually have brains is that they need
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Because however much the life of one human might worth, a gorilla is more valuable (as there are only some 300,000 of them, versus 7 billions of us).
Also, gorillas grow very slowly, 10+ years.
Meanwhile, pigs will grow to the weight of a "human adult" (70-90 kg) in less than a year.
Re: (Score:1)
That is strange math. I'd contend that the life of one human is worth more than the entirety of the 300,000 gorillas. Other species are a beautiful and precious thing but outside of any practical considerations due to the role they might play in the overall ecosystem needed to support and maintain our species their value rates closer to a piece of cultural hi
Pig or gorilla or monkey? (Score:2)
Or why not use a monkey/gorilla heart. Wouldn't that be much more like a human heart? Or is there an ethical reason why they don't do that? And finally, are they genetically experimenting on us, right now? Without our consent.
As others point out, there are two main scientific reasons. Gorillas and monkeys are not as numerous as pigs. Several primate species are considered endangered. Secondly, it takes longer for the gorilla to grow to the proper size for harvesting than a pig.
Part of me wonders how this genetic modification and sterile existence would affect the taste and quality of meat of the pig. Maybe the non-organ muscles of the pig could also be used as a food source, whereas most of the world doesn't eat gorilla or monke
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
If it is really still a pig and really does not understand it is raised for organ harvesting: obviously YES!
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Well, medicine must always deal with ethical concerns, about eugenics and in general. Even something as basic as prenatal screening does in effect result in a form of eugenics, never mind all that is possible through IVF methods, I think
Re: (Score:2)
There are a few legislators who could potentially be improved by a pig brain transplant...
Re: (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
> where is the line in the sand where we stop performing genetic modifications to make the organ-donating pigs more and more like human
This is such a slight concern compared to the Silicon Valley transhumanists who are talking about growing braindead clones of people (perhaps themselves) for explant purposes.
Some of them aren't even particularly concerned with looking human today.
Re: (Score:2)
They are already wearing lipstick at birth. They're still pigs though.
Re: (Score:2)
>Exactly what is a genetically modified/altered pig?
"Three genes -- responsible for rapid antibody-mediated rejection of pig organs by humans -- were "knocked out" in the donor pig. Six human genes responsible for immune acceptance of the pig heart were inserted into the genome. Lastly, one additional gene in the pig was knocked out to prevent excessive growth of the pig heart tissue, which totaled 10 unique gene edits made in the donor pig."
https://www.sciencedaily.com/r... [sciencedaily.com]
ManBearPig (Score:2)
Kosher? Waddabout Vegans? (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Nope. (Score:2)
When faced with death, people will go against their most heartfelt beliefs. I vegan could swear they would never accept it but when faced with a life or death decision, they will do what they must to survive. I believe this technology will completely displace human heart transplant when it reaches full maturity.
Re: (Score:2)
When faced with death, people will go against their most heartfelt beliefs. I vegan could swear they would never accept it but when faced with a life or death decision, they will do what they must to survive. I believe this technology will completely displace human heart transplant when it reaches full maturity.
Agreed 100 percent.
Re: (Score:2)
Are they happier with cannibalism? Did they ever have problems with human organ transplant?
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
> Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. Let's unwrap this. Well, we don't kill humans to get the transplants, they're already (brain-)dead, and you need to get consent from the family. Do you consider that to be exploitation and cruelty to animals (which humans are a part of)? So I think this is vegan *as long* as there's no way to "print" organs. Veganism isn't a SAT problem, it's a MaxSAT problem.
Discussion is in order. Here's where I stand:
ALL life is 100 percent precious
There are absolutely no exceptions. Until humans achieve direct energy to life transmission, for us to survive, we kill something - we remove it's life force and consume it.
But as we are likewise precious because we are life, we must understand that we do not survive unless we kill other life. There are no exceptions. The vegan kills other life. They are no better than those they abhor.
A human that consumes animal produ
Fantastic! (Score:2)
I certainly hope this technology is pushed to the point where you no longer need to worry about taking immune suppressant drugs. Provided a two year lead time on the transplant surgery then it would be possible to gestate and grow a genetically customized pig that your immune system would identify as a "perfect match".
I certainly hope that at some point humanity moves toward having a redundant pulmonary system as it's one thing that will kill our brains just minutes after failure. A redundant liver wouldn
Re: (Score:2)
Better if you could clone a heart from your own stem cells.
Re: (Score:2)
As long as you're wishing for unrealized technologies with no presently viable path then why not just wish for nano technology to repair all your organs too?
Re: (Score:1)
Hmm, what if it were possible to make a brain-dead clone of you in order to harvest its organs as personalized replacements?
One or two ethical questions may arise from that.
Re: (Score:2)
it would be possible to gestate and grow a genetically customized pig that your immune system would identify as a "perfect match".
End of Tinder.
And, of course, there are consequences... (Score:2)
Doctors say the patient has already paid in full for the operation. Apparently, he's moved to Italy and is making about three grand a day finding truffles.
Genetically Modified How? (Score:2)
Even if it's not modified to the individual, the pig must be modified to a certain type of person. Even human organ candidates have to be screened for good matches.
Re: (Score:2)
It's journalists. Why would they ask the most obvious questions, that even a 10yro would have the wisdom to ask, and share the answer?
Re: (Score:2)
I read the article, but I didn't catch how the pig was genetically modified.
If you were looking for information on which specific genes were disabled, which were altered, and how, and which human genes were added, then I'd suggest that the NYT is not the publication you need to be reading. Unfortunately the University of Maryland's own page on the procedure [umaryland.edu] is only slightly more informative but does link to a peer reviewed article [nih.gov] giving substantially more detail on some of the genes involved.
Is it tailored to the individual getting the organs?
No. The timeline simply doesn't allow this to be the case. I'm afraid I've not been keepi
Re: (Score:2)
They might have started with a pig "breed" that doesn't grow to enormous size. While most pigs will grow to 200+ kg, there are a couple of breeds that go quite a bit under that, well into "adult human weight" territory.
Re: (Score:2)
I read the article, but I didn't catch how the pig was genetically modified.
Modified to remove alpha-gal sugar. There might be other modifications, but that's the most important one since the reaction to it can't be suppressed.
I can only say ... (Score:2)
Poor pig!
That we call "commitment!"
ob. PIigman (Score:2)
Are you sure this "transplant recipient" wasn't just some mental patient?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]
Hyperpigs Are Soon To Follow (Score:2)
And working in law enforcement assisting The Prefect. [goodreads.com] Part of Alastair Reynolds' Revelation Space universe. They were introduced in an earlier book. An interesting take on genetically modifying pigs, presumably for organ transplants at first.
How about the ethics? (Score:2)
Is he still allowed to eat bacon?
the Island of Dr. Moreau (Score:2)
Brain of a genetically-modified pig (Score:2)
successfully attached the kidney of a genetically engineered pig to a brain-dead person
Should have transplanted a brain instead?
This is both disturbing and wonderful news. (Score:2)
BABY FAE IS DEAD (Score:2)
I had to deliver these heartbreaking newspapers back in 1984 with the headline:
BABY FAE IS DEAD