Xenotransplantation is a technology that has been in development for the past 15 years. The use of animal organs as substitutes for human organs has faced many challenges, with the fact that they only last a few months before complications arise. Recently, researchers from China announced the success of transplanting pig lungs into humans.
Genetically edited pig lungs were transplanted into the body of a 39-year-old human recipient who was confirmed to be brain dead. Initially, the lungs functioned well. But after three days, tissue damage was detected due to rejection by the recipient's body. Although healing was detected, the experiment was stopped after nine days.
Researchers managed to collect useful data but said more research needs to be done, especially on the issue of animal organ rejection, before pig lungs can be used as human replacement organs.
Lungs are among the most difficult organs to donate, with only 28% of donated lungs being usable even after just a few hours of being removed from the body of the deceased. Five years ago, researchers from Columbia University transplanted human lungs into pigs to repair damage before transplanting them back into human recipients.
This year, Towana Looney became the longest-living person with a pig kidney, surviving for 130 days before being removed after complications. In addition to the kidney, a pig heart and liver were also successfully transplanted, but they also did not survive long due to rejection and viruses.
Why were pigs chosen as donor organs? Because pigs mature quickly and have organs the same size as humans. Replacement organs can be produced in just three months, compared to waiting years for a human organ that is compatible with the recipient's body.
The Chinese research paper was published in the journal Nature.