The transplant organs crisis is another big issue we’re forced to face today. It is the reason why scientists have been trying so hard to find a way in order to get rid of this problem. They actually managed to come up with something. They thought that getting human out of the equation implies the necessity of using other organ sources. And what source would be the closest to the humans? That’s right, animals!
A team of scientists has recently managed to rid over 35 pigs of specific DNA viruses that made transplants to humans impossible. Of course, this is not the only impediment. Scientists have to take in consideration the fact that the human body might reject the new organ. And this is the next issue they’re trying to cope with at the moment.
However, the scientists and the doctors are still impressed by the medical-scientific current success. To be more specific, in the DNA of the pigs scientists found a number of 25 porcine endogenous retroviruses. While experimenting, they come to the conclusion that the combination of the two tissues (human and animal) could be very dangerous for humans. But after removing the porcine endogenous retroviruses with the CRISPR, the scientific device which edits the genes, they managed to create the first genetically modified pigs. They chose the pigs because their organs are similar to the ones humans have, this way making xenotransplantation 50% possible. The other step is completely up to how the human body will react to a certain organ.
But after removing the porcine endogenous retroviruses with the CRISPR, the scientific device which edits the genes, they managed to create the first genetically modified pigs. They chose the pigs because their organs are similar to the ones humans have, this way making xenotransplantation 50% possible. The other step is completely up to how the human body will react to a certain organ.
The study and the experiments have been a success so far, but unfortunately, this won’t be enough because there are some more issues that have to be taken into account. For example the procedures, the ethical problems, so on and so forth. But we can at least enjoy the fact that the first step has been already made.
