Transplant techniques between animals and humans are improving. On September 20, a second transplant of a pig’s heart into a man was successful in the United States. And this raises both hope and ethical questions.
The goal is to find a solution to the organ shortage. The transplant waiting lists are endless (more than 25,000 people in France). When a donor dies, we only have a few hours to remove their organs and transplant them, otherwise they will run out of oxygen and deteriorate. There is no way to store them as they cannot be frozen.
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To remedy this emergency, scientists began to develop artificial organs. But research only offers a few solutions, such as promising retinal implants, or an artificial heart while waiting for a transplant. The idea therefore came to use genetically modified animal organs to avoid rejection.
Some results were conclusive. A pig kidney transplanted into a man has been functioning without problems for more than two months. This is also the case with pig skin grafted onto a severe burn. And we have just witnessed the second transplant of a pig’s heart into a man. The first took place a year and a half ago, the second, in mid-September, on a soldier who, due to a vascular disease, could not receive a human transplant.
Chimera organ banks
Pigs are generally the same size and physiology as ours. There is also a practical side: they are already raised for their meat and they reach adult size in just nine months. This is why we are seeing the development of farms specializing in the breeding of genetically modified pigs, with the sole objective: organ transplantation (liver, lung, heart, kidneys).
Some would like to go even further, with hybrid animals having organs 100% identical to ours. Real half-human, half-animal chimeras, which could be used as an organ bank.
Ethical barriers falling?
For a long time, there was a consensus between countries to prohibit the breeding of these chimeras beyond 15 days. But China and Japan eventually allowed researchers to exceed the limit.
Obviously, some people are worried. Aren’t we playing sorcerers’ apprentices with these mutant organisms that are half-human, half-animal? More generally, is it moral to cultivate and harvest organs from an animal to treat humans? We doubt the response of animal welfare supporters. We also suspect that of the researchers. We would like to hear from patients waiting for a transplant.