A new test on a pig’s liver could change how doctors help people who need liver transplants. This comes after a number of tests in which doctors used parts from pigs to help people who need transplants.
A group of surgeons recently did an experiment in which they connected a pig liver to a human body that had no brain. Many of the doctors were shocked by the results because the liver started to clean the blood before it went through the body.
The University of Pennsylvania shared the results of this experiment on Tuesday. They said that it was one of many that they do that involve transplanting organs from animals to people. The facts show that the pig liver was used as an outside part and wasn’t transplanted inside. This is similar to dialysis for liver patients.
Animal-to-human transplants, also known as xenotransplants, have been tried by scientists and doctors for years but have failed every time because human bodies don’t accept alien tissues. In this case, however, livers from pigs that have been changed to have organs that are more like human organs have been taken.
There have been times when pig organs were transplanted into people before this. To give you an example, two men had pig hearts replaced, but they both died a few months after the surgery.
A plan to give people who need liver or kidney donations a choice is being thought about by the US Food and Drug Administration. As of now, there is no ruling on whether or not they can volunteer to do tests and experiments on pig kidneys and livers.
If the liver operations on pigs work, it could make a huge difference for people who are currently on a waiting list. The list of people who need a liver replacement has grown to over 10,000.
Dr. Parsia of UT Southwestern Medical Center is a doctor who has been keeping an eye on this study for a while now. He said, “A lot of work is going into making machines that work like liver dialysis. Experiments with pig livers were done years ago before more advanced genetic techniques were available today.”
Vagefi spoke out and said that this mix is very interesting and could change how many people get liver transplants or be used in a new live dialysis project.
