Japanese scientists bred 1st pig for human organs transplants
The Japanese company PorMedTec Co. Ltd, working under the auspices of the Meiji University International Institute for Bio-Resource Research, stated that its specialists have successfully bred a genetically modified pig for the first time, allowing them to use its organs for human transplantation with no rejection in the future, TASS reports
Initially, the American biotech company developed a technology for growing genetically modified pigs for animal-to-human cell and organ transplantation, known as xenotransplantation. Japanese experts successfully cloned a piglet using cells imported from the US. It is noted that this is the first birth of a genetically modified pig on the territory of Japan and its organs can be transplanted to humans in the future.
It is also reported that in 2024, Japanese specialists plan to start transplanting the organs of such a pig into the body of a monkey as an intermediate step between organ transplantation into the human body.
