2022 was a breakthrough year for xenotransplantation, a procedure that could be a lifeline for patients in desperate need of a donor.
Starting in the 1960s, doctors attempted transplants of kidneys, hearts, and livers from baboons and chimpanzees—humans’ closest genetic relatives—into people. But the organs failed within weeks, if not days, due to rejection or infection. These efforts were largely abandoned after “Baby Fae,” an infant with a fatal heart condition, died within a month of receiving a baboon heart transplant in 1984.
But biological differences between pigs and humans make transplantation much more challenging. So researchers turned to genetic engineering to make pig organs more suitable for human recipients—deleting pig genes and adding human ones to prevent immune rejection, blood clotting, and inflammation. Another possibility is that the patient was infected with a virus found naturally in pigs, and in his immunocompromised state brought on by anti-rejection medication the virus made the heart fail. Scientists were already on the lookout for porcine endogenous retroviruses, which are integrated into the pig genome. These viruses weren’t detectable in Bennett’s heart tissue, but another kind was: porcine cytomegalovirus, or pCMV.
France Dernières Nouvelles, France Actualités
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