Gravitas: Pig's heart transplanted
Where doctors have successfully transplanted a pig's heart into a human body ll repeat that a pig's heart has been inserted inside the body of a human patient the surgery was performed on a 57 year man in Maryland he apparently suffered from a terminal heart disease last week checked he was in good health after the surgery it was declared successful doctors say that this could open several doors it could solve the chronic shortage of human organs in the long run our next report has more 11 days into 2022 we already have a big scientific breakthrough a first of its kind heart transplant scientists in the United States have transplanted a pig's heart into a human body you heard that right an man with a terminal heart disease has just been implanted with a genetically modified pig's heart the surgery took place onJanuary 7th the patient was 57 year old David Bennett of Maryland he was deemed ineligible for a human transplant a decision that is often taken when a patient is in very poor health getting a pig's heart implanted was his last hope doctors at the medical center decided to help they got a special authorization by the medical regulator for the procedure her permission to use a pig's heart instead of a human's the pig used in the transplant was genetically modified all genes that would have made Bennett body reject the organ were removed six human genes linked to immune acceptance were inserted on the 7th of January at around 8 30 am the surgery began it concluded at around afternoon with the animal heart functioning the same way inside body as his own did we started the surgery on our patient around 8 30. Had previous heart surgery it took a while prepare the operative site such that we could remove his heart and replace it with that animals that process took a few more hours and really towards the end afternoon we were prepared to discontinue the surgery and test the new heart in its new environment we were quite pleased that as we separated from the heart lung machine the animal heart was functioning by my eye at least just about as normal as we could have expected the doctors say that pigs have long been a source of potential transplants because their organs are similar to humans a pig's heart at the time of slaughter is about the same size as an adult human heart the doctors say this surgery could open doors for other organs from pigs being used in transplantation organs like kidneys livers and lungs you know it is a game changer because you know now uh we will have these organs readily available if this works you know and hope it will work uh you know we'll have these organs available you know we have the technique of genetically modifying so if they're more tweaking required modifying the genes we be able to do that you know you know customize basically the heart for or the organ for the patient around 11 000 are currently waiting for an transplant more than 6 000 patients lose their lives each year waiting for an organ doctors using animal organs instead could change things it could solve the chronic shortage of human organs but if the last two years are anything to go by messing with nature hasn't always been beneficial we hope the doctors behind this surgery are aware viewer report we are world is one available in your country download the app now and get all the news on the move
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