Lawrence Faucette, 58, a married father of two, and a twenty-year Navy veteran from Maryland, has achieved a remarkable medical milestone by becoming the second person to receive a genetically engineered pig heart as part of a heart transplant procedure in the United States. Faucette was diagnosed with terminal heart disease and was ineligible for the human heart transplant procedure due to a condition known as peripheral vascular disease, which restricts blood circulation. Let’s continue to read this article to get all the answers to your query.
Xenotransplantation is a groundbreaking medical procedure that involves a pig’s heart being transplanted into a human’s body. It’s only been done once before, and both times were at UMC. Faucette’s heart is now fully functional and he can breathe on his own after the surgery on September 19th. He doesn’t need any supportive devices for his heart. He said in the days before the surgery that the only way out was to go with a pig heart, and that’s what they did. They made some genetic changes to the pig that was used for the transplant. Three of the pig’s genes were “knighted” or deactivated. Swipe to know more details.
What Happened Lawrence Faucette?
These changes are designed to reduce the chance of rejection and make sure the heart is working properly in the human body. Dr. Gladwin, the executive vice president for medical affairs at UM Baltimore, said this program is proof that molecular medicine can be used in surgery and points to a future where organs can be given to everyone. Pigs have a gene that makes a molecule that’s not found in humans, and it triggers an immune system response in humans called hyperacute rejection, which means the body will attack the foreign organ in a matter of minutes. Continue not to miss a single piece of information related to this incident.
Xenotransplantation holds significant potential as an alternative for the approximately 103,606 Americans currently awaiting organ transplants. Tragically, over 6,000 of these patients succumb each year while awaiting the organs they urgently need. Simultaneously, six human genes responsible for facilitating the acceptance of the organ by the recipient’s immune system were introduced into the pig’s genome. An additional gene in the pig was deactivated to prevent excessive growth of the pig heart tissue. In total, 10 unique genes were edited in the donor pig to make the xenotransplantation procedure feasible. Stay tuned to our websites for the latest news updates.
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