TeachableMedicalNews article 10222022
Teachable moment in classrooms:
- chemical basis of life chapter – genetic engineering can remove genes from, or add genes to DNA molecules (the chromosomes)
- cellular basis of life chapter – removing a gene removes a protein, while adding a gene adds proteins to the functional toolkit of cells
- hear chapter – blood pumping action of left ventricle delivers oxygen, nutrients to all organs
- immune system chapter – role of HLA proteins in the recognition of self and non-self antigens
The news item: Recently the following news article was published:
Two pig heart transplants succeed in brain-dead recipients
Surgeons at New York University (NYU) have successfully transplanted genetically-engineered pig hearts into two brain-dead people, researchers said on Tuesday, moving a step closer to a long-term goal of using pig parts to address the shortage of human organs for transplant.
The article states that experimental transplantation of pig hearts into brain dead humans was carried out, and the hearts remained functional for the three days of the study. The article also states that the transplanted hearts came from genetically engineered pigs in which 4 genetic alterations were done to prevent rejection, and 6 genetic modifications were done to prevent incompatibilities between pigs and humans.
So, Why Do I Care?? There are about 600,000 people in the US whose heart is about to give out (end stage heart disease), but there are only about 3800 heart transplant operations. Several people die each day because suitable donor hearts are not available for transplantation. If we could routinely transplant pig hearts into humans that would save thousands of lives.
Plain English, Please!!! First, let’s talk about why people need a heart transplant. End stage heart disease happens either because of the degeneration of heart muscle from coronary artery disease or from viral infection, or because of heart valve problems. Once the pumping efficiency of the heart drops