US Researchers Announce Another Pig to Human Transplant
2022-01-26
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1American doctors have released details about another operation involving the transplant of pig organs into humans.
2A medical team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham said it had successfully transplanted pig kidneys into a brain-dead human.
3The operation took place last September, but was first reported January 20.
4Similar operations have taken place in recent months.
5In October, doctors at New York University temporarily attached a pig kidney to blood vessels outside the body of a brain-dead human.
6And earlier this month, doctors at University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore transplanted a pig heart into a living human patient.
7In all of the operations, doctors used organs from genetically modified pigs provided by Virginia-based medical company Revivicor.
8The latest experiment in Alabama was performed on 57-year-old Jim Parsons, who was declared brain-dead after being injured in a motorcycle accident.
9His family donated his body to science.
10For a little more than three days -- until the man's body was removed from life support -- the two pig kidneys survived with no signs of immediate rejection, the medical team reported.
11The results were recently published in a study in the American Journal of Transplantation.
12Dr. Jayme Locke of the University of Alabama at Birmingham led the new study.
13She told The Associated Press the experiment marks the beginning of a planned series of pig kidney transplants.
14"The organ shortage is in fact an unmitigated crisis, and we've never had a real solution to it," Locke said.
15She added that an important finding of the latest operation helped answer a major question:
16Could the pig kidney blood vessels survive the force of human blood pressure?
17She said the operation proved that the answer was yes.
18One kidney was damaged during removal from the pig and did not work effectively, the team reported.
19But the other quickly started producing urine as a kidney is supposed to.
20Locke said no pig viruses were passed on to the human, and no pig cells were found in the man's bloodstream.
21She added that the latest experiment showed that brain-dead bodies can serve as much-needed human models to test out possible new treatments.
22In the donor pigs, scientists removed several genes linked to organ rejection.
23They also removed another gene in an effort to prevent too much growth of pig heart tissue.
24Dr. Robert Montgomery has led similar experiments at New York University's Langone Health in New York City.
25He told the AP that scientists still have a lot to learn about how long pig organs survive, and how best to genetically change them.
26"I think different organs will require different genetic modifications," he said.
27Organ donor organizations estimate there are about 110,000 Americans currently waiting for an organ transplant.
28And more than 6,000 patients die each year before getting an organ, reports organdonor.gov.
29I'm Bryan Lynn.
1American doctors have released details about another operation involving the transplant of pig organs into humans. 2A medical team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham said it had successfully transplanted pig kidneys into a brain-dead human. The operation took place last September, but was first reported January 20. 3Similar operations have taken place in recent months. 4In October, doctors at New York University temporarily attached a pig kidney to blood vessels outside the body of a brain-dead human. And earlier this month, doctors at University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore transplanted a pig heart into a living human patient. 5In all of the operations, doctors used organs from genetically modified pigs provided by Virginia-based medical company Revivicor. 6The latest experiment in Alabama was performed on 57-year-old Jim Parsons, who was declared brain-dead after being injured in a motorcycle accident. His family donated his body to science. 7For a little more than three days -- until the man's body was removed from life support -- the two pig kidneys survived with no signs of immediate rejection, the medical team reported. The results were recently published in a study in the American Journal of Transplantation. 8Dr. Jayme Locke of the University of Alabama at Birmingham led the new study. She told The Associated Press the experiment marks the beginning of a planned series of pig kidney transplants. 9"The organ shortage is in fact an unmitigated crisis, and we've never had a real solution to it," Locke said. 10She added that an important finding of the latest operation helped answer a major question: Could the pig kidney blood vessels survive the force of human blood pressure? She said the operation proved that the answer was yes. 11One kidney was damaged during removal from the pig and did not work effectively, the team reported. But the other quickly started producing urine as a kidney is supposed to. 12Locke said no pig viruses were passed on to the human, and no pig cells were found in the man's bloodstream. She added that the latest experiment showed that brain-dead bodies can serve as much-needed human models to test out possible new treatments. 13In the donor pigs, scientists removed several genes linked to organ rejection. They also removed another gene in an effort to prevent too much growth of pig heart tissue. 14Dr. Robert Montgomery has led similar experiments at New York University's Langone Health in New York City. He told the AP that scientists still have a lot to learn about how long pig organs survive, and how best to genetically change them. "I think different organs will require different genetic modifications," he said. 15Organ donor organizations estimate there are about 110,000 Americans currently waiting for an organ transplant. And more than 6,000 patients die each year before getting an organ, reports organdonor.gov. 16I'm Bryan Lynn. 17The Associated Press reported this story. Bryan Lynn adapted the report for VOA Learning English. 18_____________________________________________ 19Words in This Story 20transplant - v. to perform a medical operation in which an organ or other part that has been removed from the body of one person is put into the body of another person 21modify - v. to change something in order to improve it 22unmitigated - adj. complete, often describing something bad or unsuccessful 23urine - n. a yellowish liquid waste that is released from the body 24We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments section, and visit our Facebook page.