First pig-to-human heart transplant a success — PETA slams research
Doctors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine achieved a world first by successfully transplanting a genetically modified pig heart into a human patient.
According to a report from The Associated Press, David Bennet underwent the procedure on Friday, 7 January 2022, and three days later, his body has not rejected the organ.
Doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Centre say the procedure demonstrated that a genetically modified animal heart could function in the human body without immediate rejection.
According to the New York Times, the heart was genetically modified to eliminate four genes that encode a molecule that causes the body to reject the organ.
People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) released a statement regarding the procedure.
“Animal-to-human transplants are unethical, dangerous, and a tremendous waste of resources that could be used to fund research that might actually help humans,” PETA said.
“Animals aren’t toolsheds to be raided but complex, intelligent beings. It would be better for them and healthier for humans to leave them alone and seek cures using modern science.”
Bennet’s procedure was approved by the Food and Drug Administration on solely compassionate grounds, as he did not qualify for a traditional heart transplant and had run out of options.
“It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice,” Bennet said before the operation.
The coming weeks are critical as Bennett recovers from the surgery and doctors monitor how the genetically modified heart is coping.
There is a shortage of organs donated for transplant, requiring scientists to research alternatives for the growing number of patients on transplant waiting lists.
In October 2021, surgeons externally attached a modified pig kidney to a braindead patient, which was not immediately rejected.
The pig kidney functioned properly for the 54-hour observation period, and several experts in the field of medicine have commended the surgery.
“This is a huge breakthrough,” Dorry Segev, professor of transplant surgery at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, said at the time.
“It’s a big, big deal.”
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