Scientists found a new way to save patients who are waiting for an organ transplant.

Every day, 20 people in North America die, waiting for an organ to save them. This is why some experts decided to become surgeon-scientist. They can practice xenotransplantation, which means to place pigs’ organs (like a hearth) into a human body.

Not every pig can be a potential donor. The “Sus Scrofa Domesticus” − an abundant and quick-breeding species that bears the most resemblance to humans − is the only one that is compatible. The reason is that the 150-pound pig has an organ size and function similar to ours.

Massachusetts’ general hospital detected porcine endogenous retroviruses scattered throughout the pig genome. Plus, a student from Harvard demonstrated that we could slide through mammalian genes and edit sequences to remove some characteristics. The first pig-to-human skin graft using cells was set to take place by the end of 2018, in Boston. Pig implants could also be used as a treatment for serious burns.

To some people, it isn’t a good idea to kill more pigs than we already do. Sadly, each year, approximately 100 million pigs are slaughtered in the United States for food. The few thousand pigs grown for their organs would represent just a small fraction of that total and they would be used to save humans’ lives. The animals would be anesthetized and killed humanely.

The problem of long waiting lists for organ transplants isn’t only in the United States, it is international. “In my home country, millions of people need organ transplants and most of them will die before they can get one”, said an Harvard’s student.

Last year, 116 800 people were on the waiting list and less than a third of those people received a new organ. 58% of adults in the United States are potential donors, but it’s still not enough. As an example, to get a kidney transplant, you could wait four years!

“We were in the transplant wards, so we understood how devastating it is to have patients withering away waiting for an organ that never became available”, said Geoff Mackay, who was in the executive team responsible for Novartis’ transplant immunology programs.

Written by: Alexandra Demers

Edited by: Kamelia Bensadek and Léa Côté-Létourneau