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Medicine United States

In a First, Man Receives a Heart From a Genetically Altered Pig (nytimes.com) 91

Posted by BeauHD from the watershed-moment dept.
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.
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In a First, Man Receives a Heart From a Genetically Altered Pig More

In a First, Man Receives a Heart From a Genetically Altered Pig

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  • Clog up your arteries. Then transplant the poor pig's heart into your body. Cannibalism at it's finest !

  • from genetically altered hearts.

    Goodbye world hunger!

    • Call me when I can have a horse penis

      (and an elephant heart to keep it at full pressure).

      • Still won't make it legal for you to continue having sex with horses.

        • Why would it be illegal to have sex with consenting horses?

          • Horses are unable to consent.

            • Strange, I thought they can run and kick you in the balls, or head ...

              • 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).

                • 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

              • > 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.

      • Then you might like Sorry to Bother You [imdb.com] by Boots Riley.

  • Exactly what is a genetically modified/altered pig? What are they doing to these pigs?
    • Just guessing: it's altered to prevent the hosts immune system from rejecting it. You'd still need immunosuppressants but that's also true for human-to-human transplants.
    • And once we start down this road, where is the line in the sand where we stop performing genetic modifications to make the organ-donating pigs more and more like humans in order to make their organs more and more useful to humans?
      • Well a brain-transplant probably isn't in the cards any time soon(or ever for that matter), so there is little point in humanizing that. Short of brain, is there any reason to draw lines in sand?
        • Well, since you can't see a reason: what if the technology progresses to the point where it looks exactly like a human, but still with a pigs brain? How would you feel about a human subspecies with a deliberately diminished brain so that it can't understand that it was raised for organ harvesting? Would you be okay with that kind of a world? And what's the difference between that and using actual humans at the very low end of the IQ spectrum for the same purpose?
          • 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.

            • 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.

              • "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)."

                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

            • 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

              • Something tells me they probably don't BBQ the remnants at the lab where they do this work. Although given the current state of the world, I wouldn't discount anything. My understanding was that a major determinant of the taste would be what they fed it. And I believe this was already done on South Park where Honey Boo Boo got a pig heart.

          • If it is really still a pig and really does not understand it is raised for organ harvesting: obviously YES!

          • That's kind of like Plato's argument about featherless bipeds isn't it? Well a plucked chicken isn't a human. What matters is the person, not the carcass. I wouldn't be fine slaughtering a pig with human intelligence, but the other way around I don't really mind.
            • That sounds frighteningly like an argument in support of eugenics.
              • I guess that depends on your criteria of "human intelligence". Certainly it's possible to draw that line in sand all willy nilly where desired to meet political ends, but I doubt anyone is going to honestly confuse an actual pig for a human based on levels of intelligence.

                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)

          by sjames ( 1099 )

          There are a few legislators who could potentially be improved by a pig brain transplant...

        • Yes and no... the brain isn't really just the mass in your head. The entire nervous system are essentially brain filaments when you get right down to it.
          • The part that does the thinking is in your head, you don't lose a bit of your personhood if an arm goes missing along with the nerves in it.

      • > 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.

    • They are already wearing lipstick at birth. They're still pigs though.

    • >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]

  • Finally! The first step in creating ManBearPig!
  • This is going to create an existential problem for the vegan community. Do I die, or do I incur the wrath of my more militant friends?

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by CRB9000 ( 647092 )
      Show me a vegan who doesn't already have a meat heart and you'll get a pass for this question.

    • 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.

      • 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.

    • Are they happier with cannibalism? Did they ever have problems with human organ transplant?

      • > 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 conside

        • > 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

  • 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

    • Better if you could clone a heart from your own stem cells.

      • 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)

        by CityZen ( 464761 )

        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.

    • 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.

  • 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.

  • I read the article, but I didn't catch how the pig was genetically modified. The article just says it was manipulated to reduce the likelihood of rejection. Is it tailored to the individual getting the organs? If so, how long does it take to prepare a pig?

    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)

      by robi5 ( 1261542 )

      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)

      by Whibla ( 210729 )

      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

      • 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)

      by tragedy ( 27079 )

      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.

  • Poor pig!
    That we call "commitment!"

  • Are you sure this "transplant recipient" wasn't just some mental patient?

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com]

  • 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.

  • Is he still allowed to eat bacon?

  • Why do we keep implementing this dystopian novels as how-to manuals? (instead of heeding them as warning to forestall going there)

  • successfully attached the kidney of a genetically engineered pig to a brain-dead person

    Should have transplanted a brain instead?

  • About this donor pig that's genetically altered, will it be eaten?

  • I had to deliver these heartbreaking newspapers back in 1984 with the headline:

    BABY FAE IS DEAD

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