Genetically modified pig liver keeps man alive until human organ transplant

"The pig organ filtered the man's blood for a few days while he waited for a human liver transplant. The man has since received a human liver and is recovering well, says Lin Wang, one of the surgeons who led the procedure in January at Xijing Hospital of the Air Force Medical University in Xi'an, China."

"Proponents of transplanting genetically modified animal organs into people, a procedure called xenotransplantation, hope that the method could reduce the number of people who die while waiting for a human organ. At least a dozen people in the United States and China have received pig organs, including hearts, kidneys, livers and a thymus."

"The procedure is a bridging therapy that allows a person's organs to recover, and it can be lifesaving for people who are too sick to wait for a human donor organ without intervention, says Wayne Hawthorne, a surgeon and transplant researcher at the University of Sydney in Australia."

"Extracorporeal perfusion using pig organs has been performed since the 1990s, but the development of genetically modified pig organs that are more compatible with people reduces the risk of organ rejection. That surgeons in China have been able to do this in a living person is a remarkable achievement."

A Chinese surgical team successfully connected a 56-year-old liver failure patient to a genetically modified pig liver outside his body in January 2024. The pig organ functioned as a bridge therapy, filtering the man's blood for several days while awaiting a human liver transplant. He subsequently received a human organ and recovered well. Xenotransplantation, the transplant of genetically modified animal organs into humans, aims to reduce deaths among people waiting for donor organs. At least a dozen recipients in the United States and China have received pig organs including hearts, kidneys, livers, and thymus glands. The extracorporeal perfusion procedure, performed outside the body, represents a lifesaving intervention for critically ill patients unable to wait for human donor organs.

Read at Nature