Scientists have shocked the world by successfully transplanting a pig’s lung into a human in an astonishing world-first surgery.
The genetically modified pig lung was transplanted by surgeons at Guangzhou Medical University in China into a brain-dead man after he suffered a brain hemorrhage.
After the surgery, the organ remained functional for the following nine days before ultimately failing, which suggests that there could be a world one day where humans are able to live with lungs transplanted from pigs.
According to the scientists behind the operation, this is the first documented surgery where a cross-species lung transplant has been conducted.
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In the study, the team of experts explained: “Genetically engineered pig lungs have not previously been transplanted into humans.
“[Our study shows] pig lungs can maintain viability and functionality in brain-dead recipients for 216 hours.”
While other studies have previously analyzed whether it would be feasible to transplant other organs from pigs to humans, such as kidneys, livers and hearts, the lungs are considered to be much more challenging.
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This is due to exposure to toxins in the air as well as their fragility.
Speaking about surgery to the New York Times, Dr Stephanie Chang, who is an associate professor in cardiothoracic surgery at N.Y.U. Grossman School of Medicine and surgical director for the lung transplant program, said: “It’s very promising and a great first step, but there is a lot more work to do to make this feasible.
“If there is a way to actually source organs from animals and have them work in genetically modified ways, that would be very exciting.”
Dr Richard N Pierson, who is a professor of surgery at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Research Institute and has done extensive research on pig heart transplants, added: “It’s impressive, but it doesn’t answer the question: Is that lung working?”
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While only one pig lung was transplanted into the person, Pierson went on to explain that the research team did not block off blood flow to the other lung, which would have helped to assess whether the transplanted lung was actually working.
He said: “They’ve shown a pig lung can be sewn into a human being and shown what happens, but an opportunity was missed in this experiment.”
Many people have taken to social media to share their own reactions to the surgery.
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On Reddit, one user said: “Coupling this with the acute rejection of the organ, the Chinese surgeons in this instance showed something is possible without showing it to be successful.”
And another added: “I don't know how his family consented to this…”