A pig’s liver has been transplanted into a human recipient for the first time, marking a significant development in organ transfers between animals and people.
Scientists in China carried out the procedure using a liver from a genetically modified seven-month-old Bama miniature pig. The modifications aimed to lower the risk of rejection. After removal, the organ was preserved in a medical solution and stored at a temperature between 0 and 4 degrees Celsius.
The surgery lasted nine hours and involved transplanting the pig’s liver into a 50-year-old clinically dead man, with his family’s approval.
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The organ was connected to his blood vessels in the abdomen while his own liver remained intact. Over the following 10 days, the transplanted liver successfully produced bile and maintained stable blood flow.
The research team envisions this procedure as a short-term treatment rather than a permanent solution. They hope it could eventually serve as a temporary option for patients with liver failure while they await a human donor.
In the UK, liver disease causes more than 11,000 deaths annually. Currently, around 700 people are on the waiting list for a liver transplant, with an average wait time of three to four months.
This development follows a series of recent advancements in xenotransplantation, including the transplantation of a pig’s heart into a human and a case where a woman is now living with a pig’s kidney.
(Mail Online)
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