内容摘要：to a brain-dead human body to filter blood, much like dialysis for failing kidneys. U.S. pig developer eGenesis is studying that approach.

to a brain-dead human body to filter blood, much like dialysis for failing kidneys. U.S. pig developer eGenesis is studying that approach.

And patients given pig organs so far have been “compassionate use” transplants, experiments that FDA allows in select emergency cases for people out of other options.Although the first four didn’t survive long, in part because of complications from other diseases, those experiments proved pig organs could work at least for a while and offered other lessons. For example, discovery of a hidden pig virus in the first heart transplant prompted better tests for that risk.

Only rigorous studies comparing similarly ill patients will offer a clearer picture of pig organs’ potential – maybe those like Looney. Despite eight years of dialysis, she wasn’t nearly as sick as prior xenotransplant recipients but couldn’t find a matching donor. Like Berrios, she had a highly sensitized immune response.Looney may be “kind of a litmus test” for trial candidates, said NYU’s Montgomery, who led her transplant with her original surgeon in Alabama, Dr. Jayme Locke. “She’s received the transplant at just the right time,” before dialysis did too much damage.Attempts at animal-to-human transplants failed for decades. Now scientists can edit pig genes, and are searching for the best gene combination. (AP video/Shelby Lum)

Scientists have tried animal-to-human transplants for years without success but now they can edit pig genes, trying to bridge the species gap enough to keep the human immune system from immediately attacking the foreign tissue. Still, nobody knows the best gene combination.Revivicor, a United Therapeutics subsidiary, produces kidneys and hearts with 10 gene edits, “knocking out” pig genes that trigger hyper-rejection and excessive organ growth and adding some human genes to improve compatibility. Maryland used hearts with 10 gene edits in its two xenotransplants. Looney also got a kidney with 10 gene edits, based on Locke’s research when she worked in Alabama.

While Montgomery is thrilled with Looney’s progress, he’s done most work using Revivicor pigs with just

, in a xenotransplant last April and in research with the deceased.Actual contamination may affect only a small amount of product, but firms recall all food produced within a certain window just to be safe. And while some of the food may be able to be “reconditioned” or treated for safety and sold again, “most of the time, it’s going to landfills,” Mirdamadi said.

Consumers who find foreign materials in food should notify manufacturers, experts said, but also realize that recalls are likely to stick around.“The thing is, there’s never going to be a day where there’s zero risk associated with consuming a food product,” Belk said.

AP Business Reporter Dee-Ann Durbin contributed to this report.The Associated Press Health and Science Department receives support from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Science and Educational Media Group. The AP is solely responsible for all content.