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US Surgeons Report Longest Successful Pig-to-human Kidney Transplant

Published

8 months ago

September 15, 2023

Editor

The United States surgeons have announced that they concluded their experiment after a groundbreaking 61 days, where they transplanted a genetically modified pig kidney into a brain-dead patient, marking a significant milestone in the field of organ transplantation.

This new experimental procedure is part of a rapidly developing area of study focused on advancing cross-species transplants. The technique is primarily being tested on donated bodies for scientific purposes.

In the United States, there are over 103,000 individuals on the organ transplant waiting list, with 88,000 of them specifically in need of kidneys.

“We have learned a great deal throughout these past two months of close observation and analysis, and there is great reason to be hopeful for the future,” said Robert Montgomery, director of the New York University Langone Transplant Institute, who led the surgery in July.

This was the fifth xenotransplant performed by Montgomery, who previously conducted the world’s first genetically modified pig kidney transplant in September 2021.

Tissue collected during the study showed signs of a mild rejection process, which led to a need for increased immunosuppression medication.

By “knocking out” the gene responsible for a biomolecule called alpha-gal — a prime target for roving human antibodies — the NYU Langone team was able to stop immediate rejection.

The donor pig in this experiment came from a herd cultivated by Virginia-based biotech company Revivicor.

The Food and Drug Administration has granted approval for the herd to serve as a meat source for individuals with alpha-gal molecule hypersensitivity, which is caused by certain tick bites. These pigs are bred rather than cloned, making the process more scalable.

In the past, early xenotransplantation research centered around using organs from primates. For instance, in 1984, a baboon’s heart was transplanted into a newborn called “Baby Fae,” but unfortunately, she only survived for 20 days.

Nowadays, the focus has shifted to pigs as potential donors for humans. Pigs are considered suitable due to their organ size, rapid growth, large litters, and the fact that they are already raised for food.

In January 2022, surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical School achieved a groundbreaking accomplishment by performing the first-ever pig-to-human heart transplant on a living patient.

Unfortunately, the patient passed away two months after the procedure, and it was later determined that the presence of porcine cytomegalovirus in the organ was to blame.

Chinese scientists recently published a paper demonstrating their achievement of creating hybrid pig-human kidneys in pig embryos. This alternative approach has the potential to address organ donation shortages in the future.

However, the development has raised ethical concerns, particularly because human cells were discovered in the pigs’ brains, according to experts.

Headline

Iran Gets Interim President After Raisi’s Death

Published

3 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Editor

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei assigned vice president Mohammad Mokhber to assume interim duties after the death of president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash a day earlier.

“In accordance with Article 131 of the constitution, Mokhber is in charge of leading the executive branch,” said Khamenei in a statement, adding that Mokhber will be required to work with the heads of legislative and judicial branches to prepare for presidential elections “within a maximum period of 50 days”.

Recall that President Raisi was confirmed dead on Monday after his helicopter crashed in a mountainous region of the country.

Raisi was travelling with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian who also died in the accident.

Rescue teams had been scouring the area since Sunday afternoon after a helicopter carrying Raisi, the foreign minister and other officials had gone missing.

Early Monday, relief workers located the missing helicopter, with state TV saying the president had died.

“The servant of Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has achieved the highest level of martyrdom whilst serving the people,” state television said Monday, with Mehr news agency also saying he was dead.

State television broadcast photos of Raisi, with the voice of a man reciting the Koran playing in the background.

Iran’s vice president for executive affairs Mohsen Mansouri posted on X a Koranic verse used to express condolences.

Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced a five days of mourning for President Raisi.

“I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran,” said Khamenei in an official statement a day after the death of Raisi and other officials in the crash in East Azerbaijan province.

Headline

UK Threatens To Deport Physically-challenged Nigerian After 38 Years

Published

3 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Editor

The United Kingdom has threatened to deport a physically-challenged Nigerian man, Anthony Olubunmi George, over an alleged forged entry stamp in his passport.

George who has lived in the UK for 38 years, after he left Nigeria at the age of 24 in 1986, according to the Guardian UK.

The 61-year-old Nigerian has no criminal convictions and made several applications for leave to remain in the UK, which the Home Office has rejected, most recently on 7 May.

George’s case became the second African facing a huge disappointment with the UK Home Office after spending several years in Britain.

Vanguard reported last week that a 74-year-old Ghanaian Nelson Shardey, who has resided in the UK since 1977, was refused indefinite leave to remain despite being in the country for most of his adult life.

As the case of the Nigerian, he has never left the UK and has no criminal convictions, with the reports of having two strokes, which left him with problems with speech and mobility in 2019.

When George arrived, Margaret Thatcher was prime minister and Rishi Sunak is the ninth to hold office since George has lived in the UK.

He has endured many periods of homelessness and disclosed he has lost count of the number of friends who have given him shelter over the years, adding that he no longer has any close family in Nigeria.

The Guardian UK said in 2005, his previous solicitors submitted a forged entry stamp in his passport and have subsequently been reported to the police and the legal regulatory bodies.

George told the Guardian he knew nothing about the passport stamp until many years later. His current lawyer, Naga Kandiah of MTC Solicitors, cited his poor previous legal representation as the reason for George’s problems.

In his most recent refusal, Home Office officials said: “Unfortunately this is not something that is considered an exceptional circumstance.”

Kandiah has lodged an appeal against the latest refusal.

A previous Home Office rejection of his case states: “It’s open to your family and friends to visit you in Nigeria.”

George said, “I don’t know how many different sofas I’ve slept on – too many to count. I don’t have my life, living the way I’m living now. My health problems since I had my stroke are my biggest worry. All I’m asking for is some kindness from the Home Office.”

Headline

JUST IN: ICC Prosecutor Seeks Arrest Warrants For Netanyahu, Hamas Leaders

Published

4 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Editor

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas’s leader in Gaza for war crimes.

According to BBC, Karim Khan said there were reasonable grounds to believe that both men bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity from at least 7 October 2023.

The ICC, based in The Hague, has been investigating Israel’s actions in the occupied territories for the past three years – and more recently the actions of Hamas as well.

Mr Netanyahu recently called the prospect of senior Israel figures joining the ICC’s wanted list “an outrage of historic proportions”.

Last week, 13 Western countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy, Japan and others cautioned Israel over its resolve to launch a full-scale operation in Rafah.