Is it possible to transplant or replace human lungs ?
Chinese scientists have successfully transplanted pig lungs into humans for the first time in history.
The genetically modified lungs were transplanted into a 39-year-old man who had died of a stroke. According to the researchers, the transplanted lungs were not immediately rejected by the patient’s immune system and remained functional for nine days.
As a result, scientists have successfully transplanted pig lungs into humans, which could be a major step in addressing a major problem of xenotransplantation (the body’s failure to accept transplanted organs).
The scientists used the system as an experiment, but their main goal was to observe how the human immune system reacts to the procedure. One complication with lung transplantation is that the lungs are constantly exposed to air and microbes, which can activate the immune system and result in the body rejecting the organ.
According to scientists, the rejection of the organ was prevented by genetic modification, using CRISPR/Cas9 technology. This technology prevents the human immune system from recognising the transplanted tissue as foreign.\
