The goal of harvesting hearts from pigs to solve the chronic shortage of these donor organs appears to be in reach, according to a new scientific review by researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). This analysis, published in the journal Circulation, describes how recent breakthroughs in genetic engineering and drug development led to the recent successful transplantation of pig hearts into baboons by a team in Germany. This pioneering cardiac xenotransplantation--implanting a heart from one species into another--could help prolong and save countless human lives.
A heart transplant is often the only hope of survival for patients with severe heart failure and certain other cardiac conditions that don't respond to other treatments. In 2019, surgeons in the United States performed 3,552 heart transplants, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. A patient in need of a new heart typically waits more than six months for a donor organ to become available, and often much longer. For many, the wait is too long.
I have been hearing this for twenty years I mainly worked in renal nursing and obviously there as always been a shortage of transplant kidneys. One of the problems is making the donors DNA compatible to transplant into a human. Yes it can be done but the big fear is that by doing that the diseases normal to the animal could then be given to humans. Exactly the same situation we now find with covid. Are we going to create another group of diseases that will cross species. Personally I think that this study brushes over the risks. I worked with three professors all of which had great concerns over cross infections. Personally I would like to see far greater research into this.
That suggests awful things occurring for the pigs and for the human race. Would we really sink so low to breed animals so we could harvest their organs for a diseased human race. .... uuuuurgh not nice.
Would have to hope the pigs are not carrying the swine flu.
I think barbaric suggestion by frankinstein scientists.
There needs to be a more humane way for the human race to evolve and progress in medicine.
Stem cell therapy for all health issues would be the way science should be progressing imo.
As you know Bkin, Catholic opinion on even adult stem cell therapy/research objections are based on the belief that human life begins at conception, therefore to proceed with such interventions equates to murder.
Many years ago a cousin had a heart op and a valve was replaced by a pig heart valve. She is dead now but was in her 70s when the op was done successfully. It was her last chance !
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