The 57-year-old man from Maryland is doing well after the transplant.
David Bennet, a 57-year-old man from Maryland, with a terminal heart disease received a genetically modified pig heart, for the first time ever, according to the University of Maryland Medicine.
Transplanting a pig heart into his body was the only viable option left for the patient, as the process of conventionally transplanting a human heart into his body was considered to be an inappropriate move, after reviewing his medical history.
There are three genes responsible for rejection of pig organs by the human immune system, all of which were removed from the donor pig, and one gene was taken out to prevent pig heart issue growth. Instead, six human genes responsible for immune acceptance were inserted.
Bennett will be monitored for several weeks by his doctors to check if his transplant is working to provide life-saving benefits and if his weakened immune system is creating any complications.
“We are proceeding cautiously, but we are also optimistic that this first-in-the-world surgery will provide an important new option for patients in the future,” according to Dr Bartly P. Griffith, the surgeon.
The heart was provided by Revivicor, a regenerative medicine company based in Blacksburg, Virginia.
The United State has been facing a shortage of organs for transplants and engineering animal parts could be a solution. 17 people die each day, despite getting listed on the National Transplant Waiting List, waiting for an organ.
Pig heart valves have been used as a transplant into human hearts for a very long time, and last year, a genetically modified pig kidney was also transplanted into a woman in New York, who was brain-dead. However, some experts believe it is too early to call the heart transplant a success. There still is a small possibility that Bennett might not survive the transplant.
However, dealing and researching more on genetically modified animal organs to be used as a transplant should not be discouraged, according to Art Caplan, professor of bioethics at New York University. He believes that it is important for researchers to learn something that can be applied to future transplant. He has also stated that it is important that a research ethics committee is set up before a transplant surgery of this kind, as the patient is very likely to agree to the surgery if his other option is to face death.[Source: CNN]
The US Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorisation for the surgery on December 31.