Pig organs in humans: a forum on xenotransplantation

What if one of your organs, say, the kidney, the heart or the liver, deteriorates completely, and you are not lucky enough to have a human organ for transplantation? Do you want to receive an organ from a pig? That is not a joke, but a subject some physicians and researchers are working on-a field of research known as 'xenotransplantation'.In 2022, David Bennett, a 57-year-old patient with terminal heart disease, received a pig heart and survived for 2 months after the surgery. Another recipient, Lawrence Faucette, survived for 40 days after similar surgery in 2023. Then, in 2024, Rick Slayman, the world's first recipient of a pig kidney, passed away 2 months after the surgery. Rick was able to get out of the hospital during these 2 months and the transplant team said there is no indication that his sudden passing was the result of failure of the pig kidney graft. Rather, it was related to his heart disease. In China, a liver xenotransplantation from pig to a brain-dead patient was reported in 2024 and the transplanted liver survived in the human body for as long as 10 days.On April 2024, National Science Review organized a panel discussion on xenotransplantation, which was chaired by Prof. Liangxue Lai and involved six other experts in the field. The panelists had in-depth discussions on xenotransplantation, covering its history and the (i) gene editing of the donor pigs, (ii) immunosuppressive regimens required by the recipients, (iii) challenges in preclinical and clinical research, (iv) relevant ethical issues and (v) prospects for the future of xenotransplantation. Gang Chen Tongji Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China David K.C. Cooper Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA Yifan Dai School of Basic Medical Sciences, Nanjing Medical University, Nanjing, China Dengke Pan ClonOrgan Biotechnology Company, Neijiang, China Lin Wang Xijing Hospital, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, China Xuan Zhang Xijing Hospital, Air Force Medical University, Xi'an, China Liangxue Lai (Chair) Guangzhou Institute of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guangzhou, China Seven panelists talk about xenotransplantation, covering its history, and the current status of (i) gene editing of the donor pigs, (ii) immunosuppressive regimens required by the recipients, (iii) challenges in preclinical and clinical research, (iv) ethical issues, and (v) prospects for the future.