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A Pig Heart Has Been Transplant For the First Time Into a Human
As many of you know, my son received a heart and double-lung transplant. He was on the list for a year and rapidly declining when he finally received the call. Some patients end up waiting even longer.
I’m in awe of what the University of Maryland University of Maryland School of Medicine just did! They have successfully transplanted a heart from a gene-edited pig, into a human. The recipient has lived 3 days so far and the doctors are hopeful that their patient will survive.
Here is a link to the article: First pig-to-human heart transplant offers hope for thousands in need of organs
The article mentions their intentions of using pigs for kidney transplants as well. A kidney transplant is possibly in my son’s future so I plan on following this progress.
There are of course ethical issues involved, especially from animal activists. And although they claim a person could potentially live a normal human life-span with donated pig organs, my husband is wondering how they have determined that when a pig’s life-span is usually 15-20 years.
The article is long but easy to read and very interesting. I would love you hear your opinion about this medical breakthrough.
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