As I have mentioned a couple of times in the past, one the fields I closely follow is the field of regeneration. And xenotransplantation is a related field I also find quite fascinating. The two try to solve the same problems..Just with different solutions.
Xenotransplation. Now, that's a fancy word. Here's a definition in plain English:
Xenotransplantation is defined here as any procedure that involves the transplantation, implantation, or infusion into a human recipient of live cells, tissues, or organs from a nonhuman animal source. source
As you probably know, even transplantation of organs from a human to another human is a huge bitch with all kinds of problems, so naturally xenotransplation is even more difficult. But if we could somehow pull it off, it would be a holy grail for people in need of a transplant.
Need a new heart? Kidney? Liver? Just take it from a pig before turning it into pork chops or something 😂
I think when I first started following the field it was somewhere in 2005. Back then, everything was just a bunch of cool concepts and ideas that felt like they were just that. Cool ideas. Great a for a scifi novel maybe. But not something we would see anytime soon. At least not in our lifetime when it comes to actual human application.
Boom
20 years later and the Massachusetts General Hospital drops this fucking bomb:
World’s First Genetically-Edited Pig Kidney Transplant into Living Recipient Performed at Massachusetts General Hospital
The motherfuckers actually did it. There's now a human that walks with a pig kidney.
Today, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), a founding member of the Mass General Brigham health care system, announced the world’s first successful transplant of a genetically-edited pig (porcine) kidney into a 62-year-old man living with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD).
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. Additionally, scientists inactivated porcine endogenous retroviruses in the pig donor to eliminate any risk of infection in humans
It's the occasional shit like this that returns my faith to humanity. If we manage to survive this decade we might actually be destined for great things 😆
Click here if you want to read the official press release from the hospital.
This is just so huge and has the potential to improve the lives of millions and millions and people with all kinds of health related ailments.
Exciting shit!
Funny what a handful of brilliant minds can achieve.
What did you do today? Trade dogecuminu for putinasscoin?
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