and concerns by international investors, causing the Mexican peso to dip.
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.over Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Sunday’s vote will either empower Prime Minister Donald Tusk, a pro-EU reformer, with a presidential ally who can advance his rule-of-law agenda — or saddle him with a rival who could veto legislation and block government initiatives.Trzaskowski’s supporters argue that a pro-European leader would enhance Poland’s global standing during a time of war in Europe. Nawrocki’s backers believe only conservative rule can safeguard national sovereignty and traditional Christian values, and they say Trump’s support would greatly enhance Poland’s security.
But the candidate who may ultimately decide the outcome is one who won’t appear on the runoff ballot.Sławomir Mentzen, a 38-year-old far-right politician and beer producer from the central city of Torun, finished third in the first round of voting on May 18, with nearly 15% of the vote. Though eliminated, his supporters — often young, anti-establishment, and deeply skeptical of both Brussels and Poland’s political establishment — have become the most sought-after constituency in the country.