How did a pig kidney transplant succeed in humans?

Between 1920 and 1990, a great deal of work was done in the development of the medical field around the world. In the meantime, there has been a lot of research on how to find an alternative when no part of the human body is working. There have been many attempts to transplant animal organs into humans to make up for the lack of human organs. But so far not all the work has been successful.

In June 1992, the first attempted kidney transplant was performed on humans. The infection spread throughout the patient's body 21 days after the transplant. The infection progressed slowly, and after 70 days the patient died of a brain hemorrhage.

Exactly one year later, in January 1993, another attempt was made to transplant a kidney into a 62-year-old man. But he died 26 days later.

Apart from this, various attempts were made in the 1990s to transplant limbs from rabbits to monkeys to monkeys. As early as 1990, scientists found that pigs were very effective for xenotransplantation. After the same effort, pig kidney transplantation in humans has been successful.

How did the kidney transplant succeed?

Xenotransplantation has been tried for years. It had never been so successful. Scientists have previously attempted to transplant the limbs of monkeys and apes into the human body. But the transplant was not successful due to the body's immune response ranging from blood clots.

But a year ago, a team of American surgeons claimed to have successfully transplanted a pig's kidney into one person. They also claim that with this success, critically ill patients awaiting organ transplants will be relieved of the hassle of finding a donor.

In all previous organ transplants, the patient seemed to die within hours or days. Infections can occur within a few hours and the organ cannot function for a very long time. But for three days after the transplant in the United States, the organ worked as usual. Also, the scientists have claimed that they have succeeded in this as there was no wrong response for 3 days. The transplant was performed on a woman. After the transplant, the woman's abnormal creatinine level returned to normal. The level of creatinine in the blood is directly related to the function of the kidneys. A normal creatinine level means that the kidneys are working properly.

Doctors at Langone Health at New York University in New York have transplanted a pig's kidney into a woman. This kidney was attached to the cells of the woman's body from outside for 3 days. During this time the kidneys function normally.

Dr. Robert Montgomery, who led the transplant team, said the pig's kidney worked like a normal human kidney.

The woman who received the kidney transplant is a patient with 'brain dead'. The woman was placed on life support because her kidneys were not working properly. Montgomery said the woman's family had agreed to the investigation.

Pig genes contain a sugar molecule called glycine, which is not found in humans. Our bodies cannot readily accept such sugar molecules, and human organs cannot function normally. Attempts to transplant a pig's kidney, in the same way, have failed. To solve this problem, scientists modified the pig's gene and removed the glycone molecule in it. In addition, pig genes were modified through genetic engineering and kidney transplants were performed.