Genetically modified pork liver successfully transplanted to a person

The first liver transplant of a genetically modified pig to a person with brain death suggests that this organ can survive and function in a human body. The method can serve as a bridge therapy for permanent therapy.

The journal Nature published this week a study by the team of investigators who carried out Xenotransplant (transplant between different species), which reports the result of the procedure performed at the Xinjin Military Hospital in China a year ago.

The receiver was a person in brain death and the transplant served to evaluate the performance of the organ and the existence of rejection for 10 days, authorized by the family. The procedure was performed under the supervision of the Center Ethics Committee.

Ke-Feng’s Dou team used a liver of the bama pork, edited for six genes involved in rejection or that facilitate compatibility. The liver is a difficult organ to transplant due to the complexity of the functions it performs in the body.

Researcher Lin Wang, one of the authors, said at a virtual press conference that an auxiliary heterotopic transplant was held, which means that the patient’s organ was not removed and the new was placed in another zone of the abdominal cavity.

Therefore, the team could only evaluate whether the pork liver worked well next to the human liver, added the researcher, who considered the result « an achievement » because it implies that the animal organ can give to the other « additional support ».

According to researchers in their study, the results « indicate that the liver can survive in the human body and begin to function. »

They also conclude that « current modalities of liver xenotransplantation can be more appropriate as adjuvant bridge therapy for individuals with acute liver failure awaiting a human liver. »