Gene Editing Could Turn Pigs into Organ Donors

Scientists used a technique called CRISPR that alters the DNA of pig cells in order to make them a better match for humans.

In a paper published in the journal Science, researchers say that using the CRISPR editing method in pig cells, potentially harmful DNA sequences – porcine endogenous retroviruses – at 62 sites were destroyed in the animal’s genome.

Scientists thought that pig organs could be used for human transplant patients as they are similar in size but PERV, and the intense immune response to pig cells have held back the usage.

Even it may sound that the concept is straight out of a ‘sci-fi- movie, researchers from Harvard would beg to disagree.

Before Church’s research, scientists were only able to remove 6 copies of porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVs) from pigs.

The team unveiled their success at a workshop at the National Academy of Sciences in the United States, which has been studying potential risks and ethical concerns of human genome editing. “There’s been type of a few true believers that had it on life help”.

Pig-to-human transplants aren’t novel.

With CRISPR, a way primarily based on the traditional protection mechanism that micro organism use to demolish the DNA of invading viruses, researchers can goal a selected level in a genome with a brief strand of information RNA after which slice it with an enzyme to exactly disrupt a gene or insert a brand new one.

Since the group has apparently edited ten times more genes than have ever successfully been edited on a single genome with CRISPR, other scientists will no doubt be eager to study their techniques. PERV is a disease that has infected human cells in past experiments. However, Professor George Church has recently proven that the pig DNA cell called CRISPR-Cas9 can be modified to prevent retroviruses from appearing. More research and studies will be needed before such claims can be made. The edited cells were 1,000 times less likely to infect kidney cells when transplanted in the lab. “It doesn’t imply that we will now change sixty two completely different genes simply”. Researchers and clinicians have long hoped that the challenge could be alleviated through the availability of suitable animal organs for transplant, a concept known as xenotransplantation.

From tests on early embryos of pigs, Prof.

“It was kind of cool from two stand points”, said Church, who co-founded eGenesis, a biotech company that wants to produce modified pigs for organ transplantation. Pigs raised for organ transplantation would have to be raised in a strict pathogen-free environment, and endure surgical procedures.