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Ethics of taking a pig's heart for transplant

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  • Registered Users Posts: 8,113 ✭✭✭Quantum Erasure


    "I did not have sexual relations with that porcine..."



  • Registered Users Posts: 3,083 ✭✭✭Kaybaykwah




  • Registered Users Posts: 23,460 ✭✭✭✭One eyed Jack




  • Registered Users Posts: 21,971 ✭✭✭✭Esel




  • Registered Users Posts: 14,357 ✭✭✭✭Professor Moriarty




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  • Registered Users Posts: 33,650 ✭✭✭✭Hotblack Desiato
    Restaurant at the End of the Universe


    It's oral sex and it's with a pig.

    A dead animal was also involved

    It took a while but I don't mind. How does my body look in this light?



  • Registered Users Posts: 15,919 ✭✭✭✭Loafing Oaf


    Yes I believe that was a case for that future PM of it being better to receive than to give.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,525 ✭✭✭Ardillaun


    They knocked out four pig genes, three related to immediate rejection of the organ and one that causes the heart to grow too much, and added six human ones that reduce inflammation, coagulation and rejection.



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,525 ✭✭✭Ardillaun


    I didn’t see this discussion so I’ll just post what I wrote on another thread here.

    On January 7, a 57 year old man with terminal cardiac failure underwent a nine hour operation at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and received a cardiac transplant from a pig. Three innovations made this historic procedure possible:

    1. Genetic modification. Ten genes were changed in the pig: three were removed that would have caused a rapid, antibody-mediated rejection of the foreign organ; one was removed that would have made the heart too big; and six human genes were added to reduce inflammation, rejection and blood coagulation.

    2. A perfusion solution to keep the porcine heart in optimal condition between operations. Apparently, this product contains cocaine which caused a regulatory headache for the researchers.

    3. A monoclonal antibody, KPL-404, that suppresses the body’s immunological reaction (in particular, CD-40) to the foreign organ.

    Here’s a summary from the Daily Mail:

    The potential significance is enormous - globally, many thousands die every year awaiting organ transplantation from human donors and demand will only increase - but there’s an army of problems ahead. One expert called the patient ‘courageous’ which is not something you want to hear. 

    On the medical side, rejection and infection are two immediate dangers. As I recall, rejection comes in three basic types - hyperacute, acute and chronic. The hyperacute stage seems to have been successfully navigated but the body has a myriad of responses to foreign antigens that are not fully understood.

    An infection is made more likely because of the immunosuppressive medication the patient is on. This could be any extrinsic infectious agent or might have travelled in the transplanted organ itself. Longer term, one has to wonder how a heart from a quadruped will perform pumping blood all the way up to the head in a biped. Not a major worry right now.

    There are ethical issues. If the patient dies in the next few weeks the decision to go ahead will be questioned; this is an experimental treatment and I’d say the surgical team are not getting much sleep at the moment. Some people may have concerns about any animal transplants to humans. There are also those may be put off specifically by a pig donor for religious reasons. 

    The patient was denied a human transplant partly because of his poor compliance with treatment recommendations in the past, including management of hypertension. One aspect of the story dominating coverage at the moment is that he did time for a serious assault and the family of the victim are asking why a such a person deserves incredibly expensive care. Doctors would say they treat anybody regardless of their past.


    Post edited by Ardillaun on


  • Registered Users Posts: 2,525 ✭✭✭Ardillaun


    On the research side, the man who led this program is a Muslim:

    Dr. Mohiuddin is a 1989 graduate of the Dow University of Health Sciences, Karachi, Pakistan. He came to the United States in the early 1990s and did a fellowship in Transplantation Biology and Immunology, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery Harrison Department of Surgical Research, University of Pennsylvania Medical Center, Philadelphia, PA.


    A practicing Muslim, he believes it is acceptable to use pig organs if it helps save human life. Some Islamic scholars have ruled that it is prohibited to use pig for organ transplants. However, almost all research in the field of xenotransplantation is now carried out using pigs. Researchers say pigs are a preferred choice because they grow fast and the size of their organs is similar to that of humans. There is a worldwide shortage of organ donors. Successful use of genetically modified pig hearts and other organs will help save lives in the absence of human donors.



    “We have completely mapped the genome of a pig,” he says, referring to the set of genetic information that forms the basis of living organisms. 


    “We know how a pig differs from a human and what changes are needed to make its organs acceptable in our bodies. We don’t know much about goats or cows.”


    https://www.trtworld.com/magazine/are-muslims-ready-to-accept-pig-organ-transplants-51344


    Post edited by Ardillaun on


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  • Registered Users Posts: 2,525 ✭✭✭Ardillaun


    Dr. Bartley Griffith, the surgeon who performed the operation, was remarkably candid about the level of uncertainty confronting him and his research colleague, Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin:

    "There are 100,000 genes in the pig," Griffith said Sunday afternoon in a Zoom interview, along with Mohiuddin. "Muhammad wants me to believe that by changing 10 of them, we can transplant a pig heart into a human. Are you kidding?"

    https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/health/2022/01/10/human-pig-heart-transplant/9152951002/



  • Registered Users Posts: 13,252 ✭✭✭✭kowloon


    Forget Epstein's sex island, those with the real wealth and power go to Pig Beach. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pig_Beach



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,525 ✭✭✭Ardillaun


    Here’s a little more detail on what the four knocked out genes coded for:

    GalSafe pigs, or pigs that had undergone editing to knock out a gene that codes for Alpha-gal (a sugar molecule) were used. Alpha-gal can elicit a devastating immune response in humans. GalSafe pigs have been well studied, and are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in pharmacology. “Building on the GalSafe platform, two other carbohydrate antigens were eliminated by knockout of the CMAH and Beta-4-Gal genes of the pig. To maintain a human-sized organ, the growth hormone receptor gene was also knocked out,” a spokesperson for the University of Maryland School of Medicine told The Indian Express in an email.


    And the six added human genes:

    “Two human complement inhibitor genes (CD46 and DAF), two human anti-coagulant genes (EPCR and Thrombomodulin), and two human immune-modulating genes (CD47 and HO1) were inserted in a targeted fashion into the genome of the donor pig,” the spokesperson said.



    Explained: How surgeons gave a pig heart — and hope of life — to a human


    Post edited by Ardillaun on


  • Registered Users Posts: 68,317 ✭✭✭✭seamus


    This man has died today 2 months after a successful heart transplant:

    https://www.rte.ie/news/us/2022/0309/1285400-pig-heart-transplant-bennett/

    RIP. This is an extraordinary decision for an individual in these circumstances to take. Yes, he was given the opportunity to extend his life, but in experimentation like this there is also the opportunity that he will survive to live in a quality of life far degraded than he had before. His bravery and selflessness should be applauded, as this will help lead the way to improved treatments and options for others further down the line.

    2 months is pretty good innings, all things considered. Of the first 100 people to ever have heart transplants, 70 of them were dead within 3 months. The very first recipient died after 18 days.

    Surviving two months as the first cross-species heart donation recipient, is on balance good going.

    Also worth noting that the people who volunteer for these experimental procedures are gravely ill and weak. There are multiple challenges in keeping them alive post-transplant that you may not get in an individual who is in less urgent need of a transplant.



  • Registered Users Posts: 12,406 ✭✭✭✭The Nal


    RIP.

    I thought he was cured.



  • Registered Users Posts: 6,171 ✭✭✭Ubbquittious


    It is a pity that he died after 2 months. Hopefully the procedure will be refined in years to come

    Not a bad use for a pig after. U could eat a pack of sausages and be hungry again in a few hours



  • Registered Users Posts: 8,113 ✭✭✭Quantum Erasure


    "teach a man to pig..."



  • Registered Users Posts: 2,525 ✭✭✭Ardillaun


    I’m sure the team are very disappointed Mr. Bennett only lived two months. We’ll have to wait and see what the cause of death was. For example, infection would be an easier hurdle to manage in subsequent cases than rejection.



  • Registered Users Posts: 1,076 ✭✭✭TheRepentent


    Wanna support genocide?Cheer on the murder of women and children?The Ruzzians aren't rapey enough for you? Morally bankrupt cockroaches and islamaphobes , Israel needs your help NOW!!

    http://tinyurl.com/2ksb4ejk


    https://www.btselem.org/



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