Not only for meat, pigs have a much higher purpose

This is the story of a heterogeneous organ transplant - which is controversial for many years. With recent achievements, this theory will come true.

For those who do not know, the pig genome is like 97% of us. So for many years, science has been intending to use the organs of pigs as a backup alternative to humans - also known as "heterogeneous implants".

However, this alternative has many problems, notably the fact that some pig-specific viruses such as PERV (Porcine Endogenous Retrovirus) can overcome the species problem that spreads to humans.

Heterosexual transplantation will soon become a reality.

But recently, an American scientific research company - eGenesis - has announced a landmark achievement. They created pigs that were completely incapable of being infected with the virus, thereby bringing the "heterosexual transplant" approach closer.

Specifically, the company used the most accurate gene editing method today - CRISPR - to "turn off" 62 dangerous pig gene samples, thereby reducing the risk of virus infection to the maximum. They have announced that pigs cannot be infected with PERV, in which the largest individual is 4 months old.

According to estimates, these pigs may be the answer to one of the most controversial issues of all time: organ transplants. Currently, medicine is capable of transplanting human organs into people. But the fact shows that donating liver or kidney is challenging and risky for both the donor and the patient.

For patients, waiting for donor organs takes a very long time. Meanwhile, the donor himself must also be risky, because the possibility of lethal complications is very high. As a result, many cases died because what they needed did not come at the right time.

Primate and pig are two subjects, because they have similar genes to us.

The theory of heterogeneous transplantation is proposed to create a fresh, suitable and timely source of organs for humans. In particular, primates and pigs are the two objects applied, because they have similar genes to us. The problem is just a story of extinction infection - because viruses that exist only in animals are at risk of transgressing, spreading to the human body.

And now, with the achievements of eGenesis, everything has been resolved. 15 individual pigs were reported to have no signs of PERV virus in the cell.

"This is the first announcement of this study" - quoted Luhan Yang, research director at eGenesis.

"The study has marked a big step forward in heterogeneous transplant safety issues. We will continue to" design "suitable pigs to have a good supply of organs for humans."

According to Yang, we still have a long way to turn animal organs into human beings. And with new achievements, the road was much shorter.

The study is published in the journal Science.