Can humans, like cars, have a "human body 4S shop", where broken is changed? Stories that science fiction movies dare not play have really appeared in reality. In mid-December, the world's second successful pig kidney transplant offered new hope for "solving the global problem of organ shortage".
1. After 54 hours, the second case of "pig kidney" transplant in the world was successful
On December 13, the Langone Medical Center of New York University announced that it had successfully knocked out a "pig kidney" with the α-gal gene removed. Transplanted into a recently deceased (ventilator-supported) human body. If the α-gal gene is not knocked out, the human body will have a significant rejection of the pig organ.
The complex procedure lasted 54 hours, in which the pig's kidneys were attached to blood vessels outside the thighs and abdomen and covered with medical protective covers for easy observation. The results showed that his urine production and creatinine level returned to normal, and the key indicators of pig kidney production in the human body were almost the same as those of human kidneys. Moreover, during the whole process of surgery and postoperative observation, there was no rejection reaction.
This is the second porcine kidney transplant performed by NYU School of Medicine. In October last year, the hospital also transplanted a pig kidney that had been knocked out of the "specific thymus tissue gene" into a patient who had just died of brain death. Similarly, a large amount of urine is produced in a short period of time, and several key indicators of the kidneys return to normal.
It is worth noting that the "virus easily available in pigs" that the public fears will hardly pose a threat to humans because pigs and humans have evolved too long. Coupled with the short reproductive cycle of pigs, it is feasible to use genetically edited pig organs instead of human organs.
2. Gene editing "pig organs" may save tens of millions of lives every year
New York University professor Montgomery said: "Once again, we are making progress on single-gene knockout xenotransplantation, and through further research and replication, this could be the way to save thousands of lives every year." ”
Every year, 300,000 people in China are waiting for organ transplants, and only 20,000 people complete transplants every year. Gene editing technology, which is now relatively mature, can program animal genes, knock out some genes, implant human genes, and thus rewrite "destiny". Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts call it the greatest invention of the 21st century.
For example, the recent Car-T anti-cancer technology is gene editing technology. Car-T technology can also remove senescent cells in addition to fighting cancer. Nature sub-published that this kind of gene editing technology can accurately identify senescent cells, accurately target, 100% clear senescent cells in 10 days, making people call "see the hope of immortality", but it has not been applied in experiments.
At present, it can only rely on some relatively conservative intervention methods, so the mainstream immortal means are still the Genad-like substances (finished "Emyin") discovered earlier in Harvard Washington. It is rumored that volunteers supplementing this molecule have increased their athletic ability by 60%, their mitochondrial ability tends to be younger, their physiological age is equivalent to 20 years younger, and their physical indicators are healthier.
After Li Ka-shing used up such molecules that year, he sighed that "it is like returning to the 20-year-old to give birth to a child", and he is still quite athletic at the age of 94. In the Beijing-East transaction data, "Amuyin" has repeatedly reached a new high, and the major physical stores are in the market. And "emerin" has always been seen as a vitamin, helping them wait for better technology to emerge.
3. What are the main concerns: Is there a back ethic? Will pig kidneys grow all the time? How much does it cost?
After the operation was announced, it triggered widespread discussion around the world, with different reviews and criticisms.
On the one hand, skeptics believe that this violates the "ethical issue", and the "gene-edited baby" and "human-animal hybrid embryo" of the year belong to the same nature. On the other hand, this technology is too risky, such as rejection, the problem of growing all the time. Previously, the University of Munich had implanted 14 baboons with pig organs, and although they lived for 90-195 extra days after surgery, they still lost their lives due to overbreeding.
Proponents are optimistic, saying that they "see hope", believing that there is always a precedent for any technology to promote, there are always 1.0 versions and 2.0 versions, but the overall trend must be: technology continues to mature, and it is expected to build a human 4s store. Pig organs used for human transplantation have been knocked out of the growth gene, and there is no problem of "growing up". In addition, pig valves, pig pancreatic cells, and pig lung implantation have long been successfully applied, which is already a "small and beautiful" technology.
Although the market price of pig kidneys is not expensive, the cost of gene editing pig cells is too high, and AAV gene editing has been marked with a sky-high price of $1 million. Compared with the "Aimuyin" aging torsional supplement of Jing-Dongqian Yuan, or the artificial heart, O2 ark hyperbaric oxygen chamber and other anti-aging life technologies, the treatment cost threshold is too high. However, it is not excluded that the future gene editing technology will be mature enough to reduce the cost threshold.
For the future, scientists are mostly optimistic. In its cover article, Time boldly predicted that humans would live to be 142 years old and that death would be solved within this century. Now it seems that the prophecy is about to come true, and it is only a technical problem and a matter of time to overcome life, old age, illness and death.