A genetically modified pig heart has been transplanted into a person suffering from a fatal heart disease in the USA. The surgery, a first in the history of medicine, was performed by experts from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Experts say that if the first pig heart transplant is successful in the long term, it will be a breakthrough in organ transplantation.
It is not yet known how long the genetically modified pig heart will keep 57-year-old David Bennett alive. However, Bennett said in a statement before the surgery, “Either this transplant will be done or I will die. I want to live. “It’s a risk taken in the dark, but it’s my last chance,” he said.
The transplant surgery, which was performed in Baltimore, Maryland last week, took 7 hours. Bennett’s son, David Bennett Jr., told the Associated Press (AP) news agency, “My father was about to die so he didn’t meet the requirements for a normal heart transplant. He was about to die before the operation, and we do not know how many days he will live, of course,” he said.
According to official data, in the USA, where approximately 110,000 people are waiting for organ transplants, more than 6 thousand patients die every year because of not being able to transplant.
D., director of research in animal-to-human organ transplantation at the University of Maryland. “If this works, organs will be available for patients who are now waiting in agony,” says Muhammad Mohiuddin of the first pig-to-human heart transplant.
Research on organ transplants from animals to humans has been going on for a long time. In 1984, the heart of a baboon was transplanted into a dying baby. However, the baby’s body did not accept the new organ, and he died 21 days later.
Thanks to advances in medicine, animal organs to be transplanted can now be genetically modified to adapt to the human body. Pig heart cells transplanted into heart patient Bennett were also purified of a sugar-containing substance to which the human body reacts.
Although it is not known how long this transplant, which is a first in medicine, will give successful results, according to many experts, this is a very important step for the future of organ transplantation.
One of the top executives of the Organ Sharing Network Association (UNOS), Dr. David Klassen described the transplant surgery performed by experts from the University of Maryland as “a turning point”.
The transplant to Bennett, a 57-year-old fatal heart patient, was made after “emergency approval” from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
In September last year, as part of a study conducted in New York, a pig’s kidney was temporarily placed in a dead human body and it was observed that the organ started to work.
Of New York University, who conducted this clinical trial, Dr. Robert Montgomery said the University of Maryland team’s achievement was “amazing progress”.