""Right now we have a bottleneck" in finding enough human organs, said Mass General kidney specialist Dr. Leonardo Riella, who will help lead the new clinical trial. More than 100,000 people are on the U.S. transplant list, most who need a kidney, and thousands die waiting. As an alternative, scientists are genetically altering pigs so their organs are more humanlike, less likely to be immediately attacked and destroyed by people's immune system."
"Based on lessons from the New Hampshire men and a handful of other one-off attempts, the Food and Drug Administration approved pig producer eGenesis to begin a rigorous study of kidney xenotransplants. Initial experiments, two hearts and two kidneys, were short-lived and included very ill patients. Chinese researchers also recently announced a kidney xenotransplant but released little information. Then an Alabama woman whose pig kidney lasted 130 days before rejection prompted its removal, sending her back to dialysis,"
Massachusetts General Hospital performed an experimental gene-edited pig kidney transplant on a 54-year-old New Hampshire man who is faring well after his June 14 operation. Another New Hampshire recipient has remained off dialysis for seven months following a pig kidney transplant, extending the prior 130-day record. Based on these one-off procedures and other early attempts, the Food and Drug Administration approved eGenesis to start a rigorous clinical study of kidney xenotransplants. More than 100,000 people await transplants in the U.S., creating a shortage that researchers hope to alleviate by genetically altering pigs to make organs more humanlike and less immunogenic.
Read at Boston.com
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