The first transplant of a genetically modified heart
Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center (Baltimore, USA) transplanted a 57-year-old David Bennett with a severe heart disease from a genetically modified animal. Three days later, the organ was not rejected, the university’s website said on January 10. The experimental operation was the man’s only chance of survival: he was refused in all leading US transplant clinics due to arrhythmia. "The operation was a breakthrough that brought the donor organ shortage one step closer, " said Bartley Griffith, a surgeon at Bennett’s pig transplant. - There are simply not so many human hearts for a long list of recipients.
Dr. Griffith is one of the founders of the University of Maryland Medical School’s xenotransplant program, along with surgeon Muhammad Mohyuddin.
"This is the culmination of many years of extremely complex research, in which the technique of the operation was honed on animals - their survival after the intervention exceeded nine months, " said Dr. Mohyuddin.
According to the US government, about 110,000 Americans are waiting for an organ transplant, while more than 6,000 do not live to see it. Xenotransplantation can save thousands of lives, but there are some risks, including the possibility of a dangerous immune response that can lead to organ rejection and patient death.
David Bennett was admitted to hospital with life-threatening arrhythmia six weeks before surgery and was connected to an extracorporeal membrane oxygenation apparatus. A new drug from Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals was used in transplantation along with traditional donor organ rejection therapy (details not specified). Ten genes were edited in the donor animal: three genes responsible for organ rejection in humans were disabled, a gene that allows pig heart tissue to grow, and six human genes were added for better organ tolerance. The man is under medical supervision, but the critical period - 48 hours after the intervention - survived without complications. More news