• Vetiranary Medicine
  • ACVCACVC
  • DVM 360
  • Fetch DVM 360Fetch DVM 360
DVM 360
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care
By Role
AssociatesOwnersPractice ManagerStudentsTechnicians
Subscriptions
dvm360 Newsletterdvm360 Magazine
News
All News
Association
Breaking News
Conference Coverage
Education
Equine
FDA
Law & Ethics
Market Trends
Medical
Politics
Products
Recalls
Regulatory
Digital Media
dvm360 LIVE!™
Expert Interviews
The Vet Blast Podcast
Medical World News
Pet Connections
The Dilemma Live
Vet Perspectives™
Weekly Newscast
dvm360 Insights™
Publications
All Publications
dvm360
Firstline
Supplements
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vetted
Clinical
All Clinical
Anesthesia
Animal Welfare
Behavior
Cardiology
CBD in Pets
Dentistry
Dermatology
Diabetes
Emergency & Critical Care
Endocrinology
Equine Medicine
Exotic Animal Medicine
Feline Medicine
Gastroenterology
Imaging
Infectious Diseases
Integrative Medicine
Nutrition
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Orthopedics
Pain Management
Parasitology
Pharmacy
Surgery
Toxicology
Urology & Nephrology
Virtual Care
Business
All Business
Business & Personal Finance
Hospital Design
Personnel Management
Practice Finances
Practice Operations
Wellbeing & Lifestyle
Continuing Education
Conferences
Conference Listing
Conference Proceedings
Resources
CBD in Pets
CE Requirements by State
Contests
Veterinary Heroes
Partners
Spotlight Series
Team Meeting in a Box
Toolkit
Top Recommended Veterinary Products
Vet to Vet
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Advertisement
By Role
  • Associates
  • Owners
  • Practice Manager
  • Students
  • Technicians
Subscriptions
  • dvm360 Newsletter
  • dvm360 Magazine
  • Contact Us
  • Fetch DVM360 Conference
  • Terms and Conditions
  • Privacy
  • Do Not Sell My Information
  • About Us
  • MJHLS Brand Logo

© 2023 MJH Life Sciences™ and dvm360 | Veterinary News, Veterinarian Insights, Medicine, Pet Care. All rights reserved.

Pig transplants prompt cautionary advances

February 27, 2002

Boston- The successful pig-to-human transplant of a genetically altered heart is within the foreseeable future, but that doesn't necessarily appease all scientists, according to experts.

Boston-

The successful pig-to-human transplant of a genetically altered heart is within the foreseeable future, but that doesn't necessarily appease all scientists, according to experts.

Pigs' genes are undergoing modifications to "humanize" their organs, a process known as xenotransplantation, to serve as an alternative to transplants from human cadavers.

Immerge BioTherapeutics and PPL Therapeutics both claim to have created pigs that are lacking one of two copies of a gene that makes alpha-1-galactose sugar, which lines pig blood vessels. Because it resembles a bacterial sugar, the human immune system fights it, almost instantly destroying pig organ transplants.

Dr. David Cooper, Massachusetts General Hospital, says he sees the cloning efforts as"a major step forward" but not flawless.

He and Dr. Fritz H. Bach, transplant scientist, Boston Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, recently spoke at a conference of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. They predict transplants could occur within five to seven years, if the kinks can be ironed out.

Solution effects new problem

Advertisement

A concern is that the organs may carry pig viruses that could be harmful to people, especially if spread to others.

All pig cells carry a so-called retrovirus that is harmless to them, but experts do not yet know its potential effect on humans.

Cooper says the decision should be left to regulatory agencies, which can balance the highly opposing technical arguments.

In fact, the Food and Drug Administration has already taken a stance to transplants currently taking place.

In a recent proposal, FDA urges U.S. blood banks to defer blood donors who have animal tissue transplants. Additionally it wants to ban such donations from close contacts of transplant donors.

The administration is mulling the policy due to the risk that xenotransplantation could infect potential donors with viruses and bacteria that blood banks would be unable to screen. The donor could then possibly pass such agents onto a blood recipient.

Related Content:

Breaking News
Veterinarian kills 2 police officers in Mississippi
Veterinarian kills 2 police officers in Mississippi
FDA conditionally approves Panoquell-CA1 for acute onset of canine pancreatitis
FDA conditionally approves Panoquell-CA1 for acute onset of canine pancreatitis
Veterinarians reflect on Queen Elizabeth’s legacy and love of animals
Veterinarians reflect on Queen Elizabeth’s legacy and love of animals

Advertisement

Latest News

How to support women while still running a successful business

The Vets expands to Raleigh, NC

Two pups find their forever homes while at Fetch Charlotte

Tools for building a growth mindset

View More Latest News
Advertisement