For Patients Needing Transplants, Hope Arrives on Tiny Hooves For Patients Needing Transplants, Hope Arrives on Tiny Hooves
The New York Times
Some scientists are confident that organs from genetically modified pigs will one day be routinely transplanted into humans. But substantial ethical questions remain.
On a 300-acre farm in an undisclosed location in rural Wisconsin, surrounded by fields dotted with big red barns and bordered by wild blue chicory and goldenrod, live some of the most pampered pigs in the world.
They are delivered by C-section to protect them from viruses that sows can carry, and bottle-fed instead of nursed for the same reason. They are kept under warming lights and monitored around the clock for the first days of their lives, given toys and marshmallows as treats.
But they don’t get to go outside and play in the dirt like other pigs. They are clones and constitutionally weak, genetically engineered to have kidneys, hearts and livers more compatible with the human body.
These miniature pigs are part of a bold scientific experiment that takes advantage of breakthroughs in cloning and gene editing to realize the centuries-old dream of xenotransplantation — the transfer of animal kidneys, hearts, livers and other organs into humans who need them.
Success could bring riches to the two biotech companies that are leaders in this space, the Cambridge, Mass.-based eGenesis and the Blacksburg, Va.-based Revivicor, owned by United Therapeutics Corporation. The demand for organs is huge.
