For the first time, Chinese scientists transplanted a CRISPR-edited pig lung into a 39-year-old male who had been declared brain-dead at the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University. The recipient received immunosuppressive drugs to prevent rejection, but within 24 hours white blood cells invaded the pig lung and progressive rejection occurred over subsequent days. On day nine the recipient's family asked to end the experiment. Prior xenotransplantation work includes pig kidneys, hearts, and livers transplanted into humans. Experts say lungs may eventually address donor shortages but caution that xenotransplantation is not yet safe for patients and requires much more research.
The brain-dead patient received a regimen of immunosuppressive drugs to ensure his body wasn't rejecting the new organ - one of the biggest challenges facing doctors when it comes to xenotransplantation, or transplanting organs from a different species into a human. Around 24 hours after the surgery, the body began producing white blood cells that invaded the pig lung. Over the following days, the body began rejecting the lung, and on day nine, the recipient's family asked for the experiment to be shut down.
While experts are cautiously optimistic that lungs could eventually allow us to address severe donor organ shortages, some warn that a lot more research needs to be done. Nonetheless, scientists are hopeful that xenotransplantation could eventually allow us to lower our dependence on human donor organs, which are in extremely short supply. In the latest experiment, Chinese researchers used the lung from a pig, whose genes were edited using the breakthrough gene-editing technique of CRISPR.
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