A Historic Milestone in Medicine
Chinese physicians have made a major breakthrough in organ transplantation. A genetically modified pig liver was successfully transplanted into a brain-dead human body. This development will be of assistance to future medical interventions and save patients with liver failure.
Genetically Modified Pig Liver for Transplantation
Medical professionals harvested a pig liver that was genetically modified to be compatible with the human body. The organ was then transplanted into a brain-dead patient. In earlier years, American physicians successfully transplanted pig kidneys and hearts into human patients. But because of the growing demand for liver donors worldwide, scientists are now considering alternative solutions to meet this shortage.
Temporary Relief for Patients with Liver Failure
Physicians hope that genetically engineered pig organs can be used as a temporary fix for patients with debilitating liver disease. The organs can operate within a human body until the patient can receive an appropriate human donor liver. Physicians will keep the patient under close observation for ten days to see how the body will react to the pig liver.
"So far, the liver is functioning normally," said doctors at the Fourth Military Medical University in Xi'an, China. They added that this achievement may bring hope to patients in desperate need of liver transplants.
Previous Organ Transplant Successes
This is not the first medical experiment involving transplants from animals to humans. In the past, American physicians successfully implanted a pig's heart into a patient. While the recipient lived for 40 days before suffering a heart failure, the case gained insights into xenotransplantation.
With continuing breakthroughs in genetic modification and transplantation technology, doctors are keen to learn how effective these new initiatives by Chinese physicians will be at solving organ shortages.
