Surgeons within the US for the primary time efficiently transplanted a genetically edited pig kidney to a 62-year-old affected person.
Richard “Rick” Slayman, from Weymouth, Massachusetts, who was affected by end-stage kidney illness, underwent the four-hour process Saturday at Massachusetts General Hospital.
Slayman is recovering nicely and is anticipated to be discharged quickly, mentioned the hospital.
“Our hope is that this transplant approach will offer a lifeline to millions of patients worldwide who are suffering from kidney failure,” mentioned Dr. Tatsuo Kawai, medical director for kidney transplantation, mentioned in an announcement.
Dr. Winfred Williams, Slayman’s nephrologist mentioned the transplant represents a “potential breakthrough in solving one of the more intractable problems in our field, that being unequal access for ethnic minority patients to the opportunity for kidney transplants due to the extreme donor organ shortage and other system-based barriers.”
“This health disparity has been the target of many national policy initiatives for over 30 years, with only limited success,” Williams added.
Slayman mentioned in an announcement launched by the hospital that he noticed the operation “not only as a way to help me, but a way to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive.”
The pig kidney was “provided by eGenesis of Cambridge, Mass., from a pig donor that was genetically-edited using CRISPR-Cas9 technology to remove harmful pig genes and add certain human genes to improve its compatibility with humans,” in line with the hospital.
Source: www.anews.com.tr
