A new record: a pig's heart transplanted to a baboon has been around for over two years.

The technology of transplanting various organs, including the heart, saved many hundreds of thousands of lives. But, unfortunately, there are much more recipients than donors. The first has to wait for new organs for months, even years, and yet health does not increase at all with time. The same heart, if there are problems with it, can refuse at any time - and then the transplant will no longer be needed.

And all because heart donors are people. Here a number of legal, ethical and medical issues arise. Everything can be much easier if hearts have learned to grow. Or, at least, replant animals from people. To this end, a group of scientists began exploring the possibility of transplanting pig hearts to primates. Not for the people yet, no, but a relatively close mind to us - baboons. The discipline that studies interspecific organ transplants is called xenotransplantation (transplantation operation - xenotransplantation ).

Scientists have been able to achieve many months of work of the transplanted heart. A total of five transplants were made to five baboons. The average life of the transplanted heart is 298 days. Maximum - 945 days, that is significantly more than two years. Previous records - 180 days on average and a maximum of 500 days. Scientists are gradually improving the technology of transplanting organs of various animals. I must say that the circulatory system of pigs is quite similar to the circulatory system of primates, including humans. That is why it has become possible to transplant the pig's heart to a baboon. Of course, various drugs and tricks are needed to make the heart stick. But, as we see, the life of a foreign body in a new body is gradually increasing.
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The study of the possibility of transplantation of pig organs to primates has been conducted for a long time. In the first papers on this topic, the xenografts worked for several minutes. The reason is organ rejection by the host’s immune system. Blood clots appeared very quickly in the blood of the recipient due to the presence of a marker in the pig tissue, alpha 1-3-galactosiltransferase. And not only the marker acts, there are also cellular differences that cause a violent reaction of the recipient's immune system, leading to the inaction of the transplanted organ and the death of a new “host” of the organ.

Since then, thanks to genetic engineering, scientists have managed to breed GM pigs without a marker. In addition, powerful immune suppressors are used. Scientists, referred to in this material, went even further. They were able to bring a new breed of GM pigs, whose antibodies selectively infect some parts of the primate's immune system, parts that usually react to the organs of pigs.

Interestingly, scientists did not just transplant the organs of pigs, they still left their own heart to primates. The transplanted organ was placed in the belly of a baboon. The heart connected to the circulatory system of the animal, and continued to beat for many months.

Now scientists are planning to carry out a full transplant with the removal of the "native" heart of a baboon and replacing it with a pig organ. If everything works out, it may well be that xenotransplantation will be the factor that can shorten the queues of human donors. Of course, it is too early to talk about this, but I would like to hope.