Harvard Medical School of the United States claims that pigs can become perfect human organ donors

Release date: 2015-10-14

Recently, George Church and his research team at the Genetics Laboratory at Harvard Medical School in the United States claimed that they have overcome one of the biggest difficulties in making pigs a donor of human organs - severing pig endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) in organs. The possibility of reactivation in the transplant recipient. This historic breakthrough is expected to make pigs a perfect donor of human organs.

In nature, the close kinship between pigs and humans gives them the potential to become human organ donors. For decades, scientists have been working hard to make it a stable source of human organ transplantation, but the rejection of the human immune system and the infection caused by viruses in pig genes are two major obstacles to research. This time, the research led by Qiu Qi solved these problems. They successfully inactivated 62 PERVs in pig embryos using CRISPR/Cas9 gene editing technology. This number is ten times the amount of endogenous retrovirus that scientists can inactivate in other animals. Researchers believe that this achievement enables them to create suitable human organ donors.

According to the Physicist Organization Network, Qiu Qi's research team also modified more than 20 genes in pig embryos to solve the rejection of the human immune system after organ transplantation. The research team is currently refusing to disclose which specific genes are being modified, but said that it is necessary to make pigs a source of human organ transplantation, and to modify and inactivate PERVs for certain genes.

The primate genome has more than one million copies of a specific type of repetitive element (Alu) and is considered a retroviral derivative. Recent studies have shown that there are approximately 11% of the repetitive elements (PRE-1) in the pig genome, which is almost identical to the Alu of primates. Researchers in the journal Nature reported that the structure and function of these pig repeats is very similar to the primate Alu, suggesting that there is much closer relationship between humans and pigs than previously thought.

Researchers hope to implant genetically engineered pig embryos into sows as soon as possible. Qiu Qi said that pigs are animals that can be backed up as food, pets and organs at the same time. If genetically edited, they can also put vocal cords on pigs. They may be able to negotiate an agreement with humans to serve the latter two. Not just as food.

Editor-in-chief

Organ transplantation is the main method for the treatment of end-stage failure of organ function, but the shortage of donors severely restricts the development of organ transplantation technology. Pigs are the best choice for xenotransplantation in the world, but the organs of pigs have been transplanted. There will be rejection in people. In order to solve this problem, scientists have been working hard. This time, new research from Harvard Medical School undoubtedly turned pigs into "universal pigs" in the mouth of scientists, that is, pigs transplanted to people without rejection. Perhaps, one day in the future, organ failure will be marked by the end of the "universal" pig.

Source: China Science and Technology Network - Technology Daily

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