Lila Clapp, Freshman
In the United States today, there are a total of 100,000 people who need an organ transplant. 17 people die every day, waiting for an organ donation. In 2021, it was found that only 41,000 people will actually receive the transplant they need. There have been times when surgeons resorted to animal organs in order to save the lives of their patients. In November 2021, surgeons in New York City announced that they successfully transplanted a pig’s kidney into a man. Though transplants are quite common, no recorded human has even lived through a standard heart transplant. Until now.
David Bennet is a 57-year-old man from Maryland,who was the first person to live through a heart transplant. Bennett received a genetically modified pig heart during a groundbreaking surgery on January 7th, 2022. However, on Tuesday, March 8th, Mr. Bennett passed away. The death was inevitable, as his heart condition began to deteriorate several days before he died. Even though the surgeons were shattered to lose Mr. Bennett, the transplant was indeed successful. What could this mean for heart transplants in the future?
Mr. Bennett had terminal heart disease and was deemed ineligible for a standard surgery. His body refused to accept any human heart that was donated. The modified pig heart was the last option, and Mr. Bennett knew it was a “shot in the dark,” but it was either die or do the transplant.
"We are devastated by the loss of Mr. Bennett. He proved to be a brave and noble patient who fought all the way to the end. We extend our sincerest condolences to his family," Dr. Bartley P. Griffith, the surgeon who transplanted the pig heart at the University of Maryland Medical Center, said.
How did a pig’s heart even become an option? Pig hearts are used because they are anatomically similar to the human heart. Previously, geneticists added and removed segments and codes of pig DNA with gene-editing technology. For reference, 10 genes were modified in Bennett’s case. Some of the codes being removed were to make sure the heart didn’t continue to grow to an abnormal size within the human host. Once the genes were rewritten, the DNA was infused into pig embryos, which was implanted in a female pig. Once the genetically-altered piglets are born, they are raised in a controlled, bio-sealed environment. The desired organ is removed from the pig and transplanted into the human. The human must continue to take medicines to keep their body from rejecting the new organ.
This success shook the Earth, as now xenotransplantation, the transplant into a human of an organ from a nonhuman animal, can save thousands of lives, though Mr. Bennet did not survive the organ transplant long-term. This process has been tried without success in the past by a woman named Dr. Christiaan Barnard, some 54 years ago. Technology has come a long way since 1968, and surgeons are confident to save more lives on the path of medical improvement.
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