Pigs: The Future of Organ Transplants

On Jan. 7, 2022 David Bennett Sr. received a heart transplant from a genetically altered pig. Bennett, 57, who suffered from a terminal heart disease was approached by Dr. Bartley Griffith, the director of the cardiac transplant at the University of Maryland medical center, was told that he didn’t qualify to receive a human heart transplant. Instead, Griffith proposed transplanting the heart of a pig. Bennett was warned the transplant would be a risky procedure, one that had never been done before. Aware that he had already exhausted every other avenue and was too ill to live without a healthy heart, David Bennett responded with one question.“Well, will I oink?”

Dr. Bartley Griffith confirmed that the surgery was a success but did acknowledge that there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding Bennett’s potential long-term reactions to the surgery, primarily because of the novelty of such a transplant.

According to the Health Resources and Services Administration, there are currently over 106,000 people on the national transplant waiting list.17 people die everyday waiting for an organ transplant.

According to The United States of America Food and Drug Administration (FDA), “xenotransplantation is any procedure which involves the transplantation, implantation or infusion into a human recipient of either 1. Live cells, tissues, or organs from a nonhuman animal source, or 2. Human body fluids, cells, tissues, or organs.” The idea behind Xenotransplantation can be traced back to the 17th century, when it was used primarily for blood exchange. Skin transfer using frog skin became popular in the 19th century. In the 20th century, Hardy performed the first heart transplant from a chimpanzee to a human, although the patient died shortly thereafter. He tried again,, conducting the first liver transplant from a baboon to a human. Again, the patient died within a short time, living only 70 days after the procedure.

With no long term success and tremendous scrutiny from the public, scientists turned from primates to pigs for their transplants. Pigs, which are already slaughtered for food, are also able to be genetically modified and screened for organ diseases. According to The New York Times, technology such as gene editing and cloning, have significantly reduced the likelihood that a human would reject a genetically altered pig organ.

Dr. Jay Fishman, associate director of the Mass General Transplant Center stated about the process, “there are challenges for sure, but also opportunities.” With the tide turning on new and revolutionary life-saving medical procedures, pig-organ transplants can save the lives of thousands of people, those who were waiting for years on a list for a new chance at life. This breakthrough may lead the way for Xenotransplantation going forward as the demand for organs continues to increase exponentially.

Article by Kennedy Nieves of Winston Churchill High School

Photo courtesy of Unsplash