Surgeons Smash Records with Pig-to-Primate Organ Transplants

Transplantation of organs is the last available treatment option for the extremely serious diseases. Every year millions of individuals die waiting for organ transplantation. The extreme cost of treatment, productivity loss, and value of life are some major causes.

Lower availability of donor organs:

The tremendously heavy demand for supply of transplant organs in abundance and also in effective conditions is scarce. No matter what the pressure applied to create awareness to save a life by donating the parts immediately after death, many patients die while waiting or become too sick 

before the transplantation could be effective.

The idea of preservation of stem cells to serve as an immense help in future is getting popular. However the generation of a highly modified complex organ from those stem cells is still a dream yet to become reality.

Concept of xenotransplantation: 

Xenotransplantation is the process of transplanting or implanting the live cells or tissues or organs of a genetically related non-human source into human bodies. Also human body fluids, tissues, cells or organs that once had ex vivo contact with another human body is possible. Idea of xenotransplantation is only to satisfy the exceeding need of graft supply. This treatment is gaining prominence, by getting closer to reality.

Species preference:

Humans being primate mammals, the definite choice of donors is expected to come from other primate mammals like baboons’ chimpanzees and others. Their physiological similarities give them a definite advantage. Despite of several risk factors like the chance of a possible viral infection due to transplantation is common, science has found out the way of genetically modifying organs from any source before transplant. Viruses like HIV, originated in chimpanzees for instance. Moreover the idea of breeding on a large scale is actually tedious.

However, pigs, apart from the ease of being raised in a healthy environment, solve the breeding issue too. Increased number of pigs are raised and bred for the food industry. Hence, pigs are greatly on the testing phase to avoid organ rejection when pig organs are transplanted in humans.