Pig kidney works 2 mos in donated body, raising hope for animal-human transplant

[DGUtley]

Pig kidney works a record 2 months in donated body, raising hope for animal-human transplants..


th-51407989.jpg


Dozens of doctors and nurses silently lined the hospital hallway in tribute: For a history-making two months, a pig’s kidney worked normally inside the brain-dead man on the gurney rolling past them.

The dramatic experiment came to an end Wednesday as surgeons at NYU Langone Health removed the pig kidney and returned the donated body of Maurice “Mo” Miller to his family for cremation.

It marked the longest a genetically modified pig kidney has ever functioned inside a human, albeit a deceased one. And by pushing the boundaries of research with the dead, the scientists learned critical lessons they’re preparing to share with the Food and Drug Administration -– in hopes of eventually testing pig kidneys in the living.
“It’s a combination of excitement and relief,” Dr. Robert Montgomery, the transplant surgeon who led the experiment, told The Associated Press. “Two months is a lot to have a pig kidney in this good a condition. That gives you a lot of confidence” for next attempts.


th-51407989.jpg


th-51407989.jpg


th-51407989.jpg


th-51407989.jpg

[2cent]

This is pretty fascinating science. I've considered donating my body to science for a long while now. This situation now gives me yet more reason. And yes, more homework. This is the first time I've heard of a body being returned to the family for cremation. My parents' bodies weren't. Yale New Haven took care of that.

Something else that concerns me; personally, and for everyone. I've never fully grasped "brain dead." How do the doctors know that the human being can feel nothing? How do they know that there is no sentient being lying there on the table/hospital bed?
That thought terrifies me.

Now, as for the modification of pigs DNA/RNA - or whatever it is that is modified to make it more human-like, or rather, human compatible. On the one hand, I see the value in it, yet on the other, how many times have we been warned not to fool with Mother Nature? Is that all fable? Or, is there actual wisdom in those words? Either way, it's worth giving the notions pause for thought.

Brass tacks: If I end up being a recipient, don't use no stinkin' sheep's organ, 'k?

[jigglepete]

As I recall, my Mother had a heart valve replaced with a pig valve, this was in the early 2000s' and it lasted for a few years...lucky she wasn't kosher (although I looked it up at one point and apparently it does not break that particular tradition/law) anyway.

I guess you can be it, just don't eat it?