A team of US researchers has create the "most genetically modified animals in existence" in a bid to make viable pig-to-human organ transplants a reality.
"The scientists successfully rid 37 pigs of viruses hiding in their DNA, overcoming one of the big barriers to transplanting pig organs to people," the BBC reports.
The research team, working for biomedical start-up Egenesis, announced in the journal Science that it had produced the piglets with inactivated porcine endogenous retrovirus, known as Perv.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"This research represents an important advance in addressing safety concerns about cross-species viral transmission," said Egenesis co-founder Luhan Yang. Work would continue, he said, to ensure "safe and effective" organ transplants.
"At four months old—roughly the age the pig would need to be for its organs to be large enough to use in people—the animals seem perfectly normal," Scientific American reports.
Demand for organs for human transplant significantly exceeds supply. According to the NHS, about 6,500 are on the waiting list for an organ, and last year nearly 500 people died while waiting for a transplant.
"Getting organs from animals — particularly from pigs, whose organs tend to be close in size and work similarly to human organs — could be the solution to that shortage," Business Insider says.
-
August 24 editorial cartoonsCartoons Sunday's political cartoons include Putin at Donald Trump's circus, gallons of whitewash, and a foldable cartoon
-
5 Post Office-approved cartoons about mail-in votingCartoons Artists take on reverse logic, Putin's election advice, and more
-
The battle of the weight-loss drugsTalking Point Can Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly regain their former stock market glory? A lot is riding on next year's pills
-
Home Office worker accused of spiking mistress’s drink with abortion drugSpeed Read Darren Burke had failed to convince his girlfriend to terminate pregnancy
-
In hock to Moscow: exploring Germany’s woeful energy policySpeed Read Don’t expect Berlin to wean itself off Russian gas any time soon
-
Were Covid restrictions dropped too soon?Speed Read ‘Living with Covid’ is already proving problematic – just look at the travel chaos this week
-
Inclusive Britain: a new strategy for tackling racism in the UKSpeed Read Government has revealed action plan setting out 74 steps that ministers will take
-
Sandy Hook families vs. Remington: a small victory over the gunmakersSpeed Read Last week the families settled a lawsuit for $73m against the manufacturer
-
Farmers vs. walkers: the battle over ‘Britain’s green and pleasant land’Speed Read Updated Countryside Code tells farmers: ‘be nice, say hello, share the space’
-
Motherhood: why are we putting it off?Speed Read Stats show around 50% of women in England and Wales now don’t have children by 30
-
Anti-Semitism in America: a case of double standards?Speed Read Officials were strikingly reluctant to link Texas synagogue attack to anti-Semitism
