US Man Still Alive Six Months After Pig Kidney Transplant (nature.com) 36
A 67-year-old US man is still alive more than six months after receiving a kidney from a genetically modified pig. This is the longest a pig organ has survived in a living person. From a report: Researchers say the outcome is a landmark case of successful xenotransplantation -- the process of transplanting organs from animals to humans. The recipient, Tim Andrews, had end-stage kidney disease and had been receiving dialysis for more than two years before he underwent the surgery in January. He has been dialysis-free since receiving the kidney. Andrews was one of three patients to receive genetically modified pig kidneys supplied by the biotechnology company eGenesis in Cambridge, Massachusetts, on compassionate grounds.
Reaching six months' survival is an amazing feat, says Wayne Hawthorne, a transplant surgeon at the University of Sydney in Australia. The first six months is the period of "highest risk for the patient and also the transplant," he adds. Possible complications include anaemia and graft rejection, when the immune system attacks the new organ. "The six-month time point marks that things have gone extremely well," Hawthorne says. Reaching 12 months would be another milestone and a "fantastic long-term outcome," he adds. Previously, the recipient with longest-surviving genetically modified pig organ was a 53-year-old US woman, Towana Looney, who had a functioning pig kidney for four months and nine days. However, the organ was removed earlier this year because her immune system began to reject it.
Reaching six months' survival is an amazing feat, says Wayne Hawthorne, a transplant surgeon at the University of Sydney in Australia. The first six months is the period of "highest risk for the patient and also the transplant," he adds. Possible complications include anaemia and graft rejection, when the immune system attacks the new organ. "The six-month time point marks that things have gone extremely well," Hawthorne says. Reaching 12 months would be another milestone and a "fantastic long-term outcome," he adds. Previously, the recipient with longest-surviving genetically modified pig organ was a 53-year-old US woman, Towana Looney, who had a functioning pig kidney for four months and nine days. However, the organ was removed earlier this year because her immune system began to reject it.
Sweet! (Score:4, Insightful)
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Re: Sweet! (Score:1)
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I'll wait for a vegan version made from tofu and an obscure variety of dried mushroom.
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Jokes aside, only the uber conservative/redneck ones. The others can even eat it if they need it to stay alive.
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Not if you're Muslim.
Not necessarily. In a situation where a life is at stake that which is normally forbidden may be allowed. I assume the same principle applies to the kashrut. Medical treatments involving pork products (and others involving gelatine, I think) can and have been used by muslims for some time. A muslim may even eat pork, but the general consensus is that this is only acceptable if the alternative is starvation.
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Only if your jeans are compatible enough with pig's.
Dude that's just disgusting (Score:2)
hepatoholster (Score:2)
Re:hepatoholster (Score:5, Informative)
There is no dignified reason to wear a fanny pack.
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There is no dignified reason to wear a fanny pack.
Tell that to my high school self.
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You too? I had a change of underwear in mine. Just in case I was ever a little too surprised.
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There is no dignified reason to wear a fanny pack.
They come in handy for businesses sometimes: they make it easier to identify American tourists at a distance.
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Just FYI you're describing exactly what people with bowel cancer go through, a colostomy bag.
But... (Score:5, Funny)
...how's the pig?
Re:But... (Score:5, Funny)
Don't worry about it, it's living happily ever after on a farm upstate.
Re:But... (Score:5, Funny)
...how's the pig?
Delicious on rye bread with some mayonnaise.
Pig Priorities. (Score:5, Funny)
A 67-year-old US man is still alive more than six months after receiving a kidney from a genetically modified pig. This is the longest a pig organ has survived in a living person.
Whew. For a minute there I thought we humans might actually be more concerned about measuring the longest a human has survived with a pig organ.
Good thing we know that pig organs can survive. Now we can make bacon live forever. Or until we get hungry.
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They just need to figure out how to have tissues regrow quickly. Carve off a hunk'o'pig and let it regrow, come back later for more!
Re:Pig Priorities. (Score:4, Insightful)
I think the phrasing is correct. If the transplanted organ failed, the patient could conceivably have it removed and go back on dialysis.
Organ rejection rate diminish with age over 60 (Score:4, Informative)
That is probably the only advantage of aging in that transplanted organs have a lower rejection rate among those over 60. "Interestingly, and in support of âoeimmunological matchingâ between donor and recipients, rejection rates of older organs are lower when transplanted into older recipients than younger ones (29)."
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/a... [nih.gov] However, older transplant recipients succumb to more infections and are more susceptible to post-transplant malignancies
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Yes, the same thing that enables cancer will let your transplant survive attacks. At a certain point, you have so many non-cancerous mutations that you need a lot of leeway to recognize which cells are really you.
I wonder... (Score:1)
Just needs something from a bear (Score:2)
ManBearPig is real!
Summary (Score:2)
It is a pity the article is for once correctly summarized. Else someone could have posted "of course the guy is still alive, it's the pig who received the kidney !"
So that is where all the Offal Went (Score:2)
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Most supermarkets don't even have a butcher's counter any more. I think Morrisons is the only big one that still does, but I doubt they do much in the way of actual butchery there. Your best bet is to find an actual butcher's shop, or perhaps a farm shop.
Not sure how'd I feel about this (Score:2)
Better than the Alternative (Score:2)