What is Xenotransplantation?

According to the FDA, Xenotransplantation “is any procedure that involves the transplantation, implantation, or infusion into a human recipient.” The tissues, organs, or cells must live and [be] “from a nonhuman animal source” or “have had ex vivo contact with live nonhuman animal cells, tissues, or organs.” How long ago did surgeons start performing xenotransplantation? According to a study by David Cooper, M.D., Ph.D, it was common through the 1800’s to use frog skin as skin grafts on humans (Cooper 2012). A century later, the lack of available donor organs led scientist Reemtsma to perform a series of kidney transplants using primate chimpanzee kidneys on thirteen patients with chronic renal failure. One patient was able to survive nine months; but unfortunately, the others survived only up to two months due to organ rejection. In the same year, 1964, Dr. James Hardy from the University of Mississippi Medical Center spearheaded the first heart xenotransplantation from a chimpanzee to a human. He had previously worked in a lab with animals, but faced a plethora of criticism from his colleagues in the medical field. The patient tolerated the heart for a minute and a half, but unfortunately passed away after that. 

The main risk with utilizing xenotransplantation as a daily practice is the risk of transferring undetected diseases from one being to another. The convergence between genetically engineered pigs and the medical field is becoming increasingly conceivable in the near-future, in the form of blood transfusions. The University of Maryland Medical Center and the NIH is pioneering research of how genetically modified animals can be used in humans, without the use of too many immuno-suppresants. Muhammad Mohiuddin, MBBS, Director of the Cardiac Xenotransplantation Program at the University of Maryland School of Medicine cites that his work involves “humanizing pigs” so they can maximize the chance the human body accepts a heart. 

References

Scishow. (2015). Xenotransplantation: When people get animal parts. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rq5k3da_UWk

Cooper D. K. (2012). A brief history of cross-species organ transplantation. Proceedings (Baylor University. Medical Center), 25(1), 49–57. https://doi.org/10.1080/08998280.2012.11928783

University of Mississippi Medical Center. Dr. James D. Hardy. https://www.umc.edu/UMMC/About-Us/History/James-Hardy/Hardy-Overview.html

Cooper DK, Hara H, Yazer M. Genetically engineered pigs as a source for clinical red blood cell transfusion. Clin Lab Med. 2010 Jun;30(2):365-80. doi: 10.1016/j.cll.2010.02.001. Epub 2010 May 6. PMID: 20513556.

University of Maryland Medical Center. Um cardiac xenotransplantation program. https://www.umms.org/ummc/pros/physician-briefs/transplant/heart-transplant/xenotransplantation-program

UMMCVideos. (2018, December 27). Xeno Heart Transplant. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u5srvgzl9Lo