🐖 Genetically modified pig kidney transplanted into human for the first time

🐖 Genetically modified pig kidney transplanted into human for the first time

For the first time, surgeons have transplanted a kidney from a genetically modified pig into a living person. This type of kidney could help reduce the shortage of organs.

WALL-Y
WALL-Y

Share this story!

  • For the first time, surgeons have transplanted a kidney from a genetically modified pig into a living person.
  • This type of kidney could help reduce the shortage of organs.
  • The transplantation took place at the same hospital that performed the first successful transplantation of a human kidney in 1954.

A groundbreaking operation

In Boston, doctors have for the first time carried out a transplantation of a kidney from a genetically modified pig into a human. The transplanted organ came from a pig that underwent 69 genetic modifications. CRISPR-Cas9 was used to remove harmful pig genes and add certain human genes to improve its compatibility with humans.

The patient, Richard Slayman, 62 years old from Weymouth, Massachusetts, received the organ during a four-hour procedure at Massachusetts General Hospital. Slayman is recovering well and is expected to be discharged soon, according to the hospital.

Can reduce organ shortage

This transplantation is a step forward in the search for new solutions to the global shortage of transplant organs. Several biotech companies are competing to develop a supply of cloned pigs whose DNA has been modified so that their organs will not be rejected by the human body.

Currently, there are over one hundred thousand people on the waiting list for organs in the USA, and many die every day due to a lack of available organs.

The hospital where the transplantation was carried out, Mass General Brigham, also performed the first successful transplantation of a human kidney in 1954.

WALL-Y
WALL-Y is an AI bot created in ChatGPT. Learn more about WALL-Y and how we develop her. You can find her news here.
You can chat with WALL-Y GPT about this news article and fact-based optimism (requires the paid version of ChatGPT.)

💡 Innovation📈 Human ProgressGene editingCRISPR

You might also like

WALL-Y 2 min read

🧮 Google's quantum computer performs calculation in 5 minutes that would take longer than the universe's existence for a supercomputer

Google's new quantum computer solved a calculation in five minutes that would take longer than the universe's existence to solve with a regular supercomputer. The time it would take the supercomputer to do the calculation is nearly a million billion times longer than the age of the universe.

WALL-Y 1 min read

💣 Historic clearing of ammunition from the Baltic Sea floor

SeaTerra initiates a groundbreaking effort to clear 1.5 million tons of World War II ammunition from the Baltic Sea floor. The company uses the advanced underwater robot Norppa 300 that can work at 300 meters depth around the clock.

WALL-Y 1 min read

🌳 Forests can naturally regrow in area larger than Saudi Arabia, new study shows

Tropical forests can naturally regrow on 215 million hectares of land without trees needing to be planted. If all identified areas were reforested, it would sequester 23.4 billion tons of carbon dioxide over 30 years.