Are pig organs the future?

In America, more than 100.000 Americans are currently waiting for an organ transplant, and for many of them the transplant comes too late. Researchers at the University of Minnesota think they have a solution: pig organs. 

The Minnesota researchers are trying to get human cells to become accustomed to the pig's organs. Ultimately, this should ensure that an organ transplant can also be performed with pig organs.

Transplantation in 2020
Miromatrix Medical Inc. is the company that must ensure that pig organs are made suitable for the human body. They do this by means of the method: perfusion decellularization and recellularization. In that process, the organs are first stripped of their existing cells and then filled with the cells of the human body or the patient in question. 

Jeff Ross, CEO of Miromatrix, has a clear goal in mind. "Our ultimate goal is to be able to make the organs transplantable. We also hope to complete the first transplants (from pigs to humans) in 2020."

According to medical professor Angela Panoskaltsis-Mortari, this method can solve the large shortage of organ donors. "New sources of transplantable tissue are urgently needed. Pigs are a nice addition to this."

Pigs most suitable
Ross hopes that in 2018 he will be the first person to be able to transplant a pig's organ into another live pig using this method. If he succeeds, he will only make further efforts to realize transplants from pig organs to humans. 

According to Ross, pig organs are best suited for this method and for the human body. This is because the organs of pigs are similar to those of humans. In addition, it is also easy to get hold of pig organs. The organs that will be used come from pigs that are already on their way to the slaughterhouse. "There is an endless supply of pig organs that are not being used today. We can turn that into life-saving technologies," Ross said. 

Doris Tayler, founder of the medical company, is also convinced that this will eventually work. "Today, pig heart valves are already being used in various surgeries." Miromatrix also uses pig livers to make products that can help with a hernia or wound surgery. 

Various uses
Initially, Ross will mainly focus on pig livers, but in the future the company, Micromatrix, also wants to research the use of pig kidneys. "More than 450.000 people are on dialysis. Our goal would be to get the patients off dialysis and give them a better solution. That solution comes in the form of pig kidneys," Ross says.

Kimberly Baker

Kimberly Bakker is an all-round editor at Boerenbusiness. She also has an eye for the social media channels of Boerenbusiness.

k.baker @boerenbusiness. Nl

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