British reproductive expert Sir Winston.
In the next three months, pigs that have been genetically modified to provide hearts, livers and kidneys that can be used for human organ transplants will begin.
Winston revealed that the core of this technology is to inject viruses containing human genes into the testicles of piglets, or to inject these viruses directly into sperm. Winston specifically pointed out that compared with other methods, the method he advocated was more practical and humane; he had applied for a patent for the technology, "This technology can bring unimaginable business opportunities."
Winston is one of the pioneers of this technology, in which pigs are specially genetically modified to grow "human" organs that are not rejected by the transplant patient's immune system. . Winston and his colleague, Dr. Carroll of the California Institute of Technology in the United States, unanimously concluded that these pigs can completely eliminate the dangerous viruses they carry after being genetically modified. The pigs will be injected with six human genes to prevent transplant patients from rejecting the transplanted organ. "Pig organs are roughly the same size as human organs, and the organs function similarly to humans," Winston said.
Winston hopes that within the next ten years, this technology will be able to solve the current shortage of organ sources for organ transplantation. The previous xenotransplantation (XenotransPlantation), which directly transplanted animal organs into humans, has been abolished. First, these transplanted animal tissues are often rejected by the human immune system; second, some of the animals' own viruses may be transmitted to humans; third, since the death of xenotransplantation in the late 1990s, Fewer and fewer people are willing to try xenotransplantation.