Japanese researchers have successfully cloned pigs from a genetically modified individual created in the U.S. for interspecies organ transplantation, including human organs. This was reported by the Japanese publication Kyodo News, citing information from PorMedTec.
Specialists from the company, together with scientists from Meiji University, obtained edited pig cells in September last year. Ten different genes of the animal were modified in such a way that in the future, when its organs are used for transplantation, the recipient's body would not reject them.
The fertilized egg was implanted into the uterus of a surrogate pig, which carried the piglets. Three offspring were delivered via cesarean section, the publication reports.
Scientists intend to use the organs of these animals for transplantation to a monkey.
The results of the study were commented on by Hiroshi Nagashima, the chief scientist at PorMedTec. He expressed hope that their experiment would bring closer the moment when animal organs could be transplanted to humans.
In 2022, surgeons at the University of Maryland in the U.S. attempted to save a dying patient by transplanting a pig heart. However, the organ did not take, functioning for only 2 months before failing. Last autumn, American scientists again attempted to transplant a pig heart into a human, which extended the patient's life by 1.5 months. However, the patient's body also began to reject the donor organ.
