Pig lung transplanted into person in world first

A lung from a genetically modified pig has been transplanted into a person for the first time. This became known from a study published in the journal Nature.

The recipient, a 39-year-old man in China, was brain dead, but the organ survived for nine days.

According to the researchers, the lung did not cause a hyperacute rejection reaction and continued to function for 216 hours, although signs of fluid accumulation and tissue damage appeared a day after the transplant, which were probably due to inflammation associated with the procedure.

Experts emphasize that this success is only partial. Dr. Justin Chan of the New York University Langone Transplant Institute said this work was promising, but noted that the transplanted lungs are not yet capable of sustaining the patient's life on their own.

Xenotransplantation, the transplantation of animal organs into humans, has been actively studied in recent years. Genetically modifying pig organs may reduce the risk of rejection, but lung transplantation remains difficult because of the immune system's susceptibility to contaminants and infections.

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