Jakarta –
The surgical team from Nyu Langone Health USA successfully performed the transplant pork kidney to humans. Scientists linked genetically modified pig kidneys to human patients and watched the organs filter waste from the patients’ bodies.
Quoted from the page Live Science, the trial was conducted on brain-dead patients who were registered organ donors and whose families gave permission for the procedure to be performed. During the 54 hour trial, kidney remains outside the patient’s body, where surgeons can observe organs and take tissue samples.
Even though the kidney is not implanted in the body, the procedure still allows the team to see if the organ will be rejected or not.
Previously, researchers often used primates such as monkeys for organ transplant experiments to humans, because the gene differences were not too far apart. But the researchers ended up doing some genetic engineering so that they could finally use the genes in pigs for transplants.
The reason pork kidney is more suitable
Pigs have a number of advantages over primates such as monkeys and apes. Pigs are raised as a food source, so using them as a source for organ transplants will not pose as much of an ethical issue as animal welfare.
This animal is also chosen after primates because there is a history of using various parts of pigs as substitutes for human organs, one of which is the pig heart valve which has been successfully used in humans for decades.
Studies report that the urinary system in pigs and humans is relatively the same. In terms of size, the human kidney has a length of approximately 12 cm, a width of approximately 6 cm, and a thickness of approximately 3 cm. Meanwhile, pork kidney has a length of approximately 11.8 cm, a width of approximately 5.64 cm, and a thickness of approximately 2.76 cm.
Watch Videos”This is the Process of Transplanting Pig Kidneys to Humans“
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