In a First, Surgeons Attached a Pig Kidney to a Human -- and It Worked

[Omaha Steve]

Source: NY Times

A kidney grown in a genetically altered pig seemed to function normally, potentially a new source for desperately needed transplant organs.

By Roni Caryn Rabin

Surgeons in New York have successfully attached a kidney grown in a genetically altered pig to a human patient and found that the organ worked normally, a scientific breakthrough that one day may yield a vast new supply of organs for severely ill patients.

Although many questions remain to be answered about the long-term consequences of the transplant, which involved a brain-dead patient followed only for 54 hours, experts in the field said the procedure represented a milestone.

“We need to know more about the longevity of the organ,” said Dr. Dorry Segev, professor of transplant surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine who was not involved in the research. Nevertheless, he said: “This is a huge breakthrough. It’s a big, big deal.”

Researchers have long sought to grow organs in pigs suitable for transplantation into humans. A steady stream of organs — which could eventually include hearts, lungs and livers — would offer a lifeline to the more than 100,000 Americans currently on transplant waiting lists, including the 90,240 who need a kidney. Twelve people on the waiting lists die each day.



A surgical team at the hospital in New York examined a pig kidney attached to the body of a deceased recipient for any signs of rejection.Credit...Joe Carrotta/NYU Langone Health, via Associated Press


Read more: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/health/kidney-transplant-pig-human.html

[bucolic_frolic]

1. Well that's confusing. They never actually say it is the pig's kidney.

Last edited Wed Oct 20, 2021, 06:24 PM - Edit history (1)

They say it was a kidney grown in the genetically altered pig. So are they adding a piece of kidney to grow it, or dividing the pig's kidney for replication internally? Could they add a piece of the sick human's kidney to be healed and grown in the pig?

Or are they simply trying to make it seem like the pig goes on with his normal life after the grown kidney is removed?

Chalk one up for journalistic clarity.

On a second read, I must admit it says pig kidney in the title, and in the photo caption. But the text, not clear at all.

[LisaL]

7. It's pig's kidney.

Kidney from a genetically modified pig. Pig was genetically modified to prevent rejection of pig's organs by humans.

[certainot]

20. and the idiot news reporter said the human got an animal kidney......

[George II]

2. By coincidence today I had a bone graft under my gum line. The doctor told me they use tissue from..

....one of three sources:

Pigs
Cattle
Harvested human tissue

I hope I didn't get the third.

[jcgoldie]

28. You'll know for sure if...

… you find yourself chewing your cud all day. 😳

[sdfernando]

3. Keep an eye out for any strange side effects.

https://www.fanpop.com/clubs/the-twilight-zone/images/8474240/title/pigface-photo

[BumRushDaShow]

4. ...

[sheilahi]

24. other than.....

You mean other than craving corn and the inability to walk past a mudhole without rolling in it? And boom! There goes your invitation from Mensa.

[Auggie]

5. Raising animals for their organs ... just as bad as eating them, right?

[Coventina]

8. Yes. I disagree with the mistreatment of other species over our own fears of mortality.

I know I'm going to get roasted for it, but I don't care.

Want to save lives? Be an organ donor.

[Raine]

13. No roasting from me, I TOTALLY agree with you! 👍 nt

[Schmice3]

9. I don't know

It looks like a win-win situation to me. Successful transplants and bacon.

[lastlib]

10. Two birds, one stone. There ya go!

eom

[Raine]

12. EXACTLY! nt

[Devil Child]

14. No

It's even better!

[Doremus]

17. It sickens me. How many more ways can we come up with to torture sentient beings.

To say nothing of the deceased person they attached it to in zombie like fashion.

Jesus we humans are sick fucks.

[Devil Child]

18. You must not know or love anyone with End Stage Renal Disease.

A source of viable functioning kidneys for solid organ transplant is a marvelous thing no matter how sick you may be with the thought.

[Coventina]

22. My father has end stage renal disease. He has no interest in doing this procedure.

I fully support his decision.

[LisaL]

27. If I needed a kidney, and such a procedure was perfected, I would not have any problem with getting

my kidney from a pig. As of now, it's still experimental.

[Devil Child]

31. I support his decision also, it is his life and treatment

What I don’t support is denying a treatment option for others with End Stage Renal Disease. Shutting down this research because “muh aminals!!!” means letting people with ESRD die while they linger for years on the waitlists.

If this research proves viable if can be of life changing benefit for patients needing kidney transplantation.

[Coventina]

37. Animals don't belong to us. That's human cruelty and vanity. n/t

[Farmer-Rick]

29. Yeah, a patient who is O neg especially has a hard time finding a kidney

And they are over represented on most transplant lists.

O neg. people are the universal donors. If there is an O neg kidney available it can go to practically anyone. And they frequently do. But the person who is O neg. Can only accept an O neg. kidney. Usually there is a waiting list that is organized by priority. Young people are higher up on the list. People on the throws of death are higher up on the list. People who had a one time event that wiped out their kidneys are higher up on the list. The list is always being added to and removed from. There is always someone ahead of the O neg person waiting for a kidney.

So unless they find their own kidney from a friend or relative, they usually die waiting for a transplant. 30 percent of people on the waiting list die, most of them are O blood type.

So, if genetically altered animals can help this inequatable situation, I'm all for it.

By the way, pigs have 2 kidneys. If they take one, the pig can still survive like a human with only one kidney.

[Raine]

21. Totally agree. nt

[LisaL]

26. I am sure this pig was humanely euthanized.

It's no more cruel than using animals for meat. And a lot of people eat meat. Are you a vegetarian?

[Doremus]

32. No I'm not a vegetarian.

I'm a vegan. "Humanely euthanized" and "more cruel than using animals for meat" are common delusions. These animals are sentient beings and spend their entire lives and their deaths in extreme cruelty, in numbers you can't actually even fathom.

You may want to learn more about the subject. There are several good documentaries out there, Cowspiracy, Game Changers, Food, Inc. and many more.


I'm sure my post will elicit the usual "but muh bacon" replies from other readers so I'll bow out during the food fight.

[Devil Child]

33. No thoughts of bacon, just the many cherished clients I've worked with who died

From ESRD or ESRD complications while awaiting kidney transplantation.

Enjoy your vegan diet and coziness of a belief in moral superiority. The rest of us will celebrate advancement of medical tech that will save lives.

[Doremus]

35. No, not the rest of us

Thankfully, for the sake of the planet if nothing else, more and more of us are adopting sustainable lifestyles.

With technology progressing at great speed, there will be a day when cruel medical experiments on sentient beings are no longer considered necessary. The pendulum has already started swinging in this direction, making the ghoulish experimentation in the OP all the more macabre.

[Devil Child]

36. So I'm guessing this reply means you don't know anyone awaiting kidney transplantation?

Or even better, someone who has been denied listing with a center and has no other option. Your approach kills.

[Traildogbob]

6. Damn

Hard to not think of Deliverance and Ned Beaty.

[Throck]

11. Trump donated a kidney?

[joetheman]

15. We have been using pig heart valves in humans for decades .

[Coventina]

16. I'm aware. And I'm not OK with that either. n/t

[LisaL]

25. It's still the hook.

The reason pig's organs can not be used for humans is that human will reject the pig tissue.
The pig in the OP has been genetically engineered to reduce rejection.

[twodogsbarking]

23. From 2017

Link to tweet

?lang=en

[Javaman]

30. Seinfeld always has something first.

&ab_channel=ChaosClips

[roamer65]

34. This also opens up an avenue for zoonotic transfer of viruses.

Especially influenza.