US surgeons have successfully transplanted a genetically modified pig kidney into a living patient for the first time
, the hospital said Thursday, a procedure that could help address the chronic shortage of donor organs. The four-hour operation was carried out on Saturday on a 62-year-old man suffering from end-stage kidney disease, Massachusetts General Hospital said.…
“The procedure marks a major milestone in the quest to provide more readily available organs to patients,” the hospital known as Mass General, or MGH, said in a statement. “This represents a new frontier in medicine and demonstrates the potential of genome engineering to change the lives of millions of patients globally suffering from kidney failure,” said Mike Curtis, the chief executive officer of eGenesis.
“An abundant supply of organs resulting from this technological advance may go far to finally achieve health equity and offer the best solution to kidney failure -– a well-functioning kidney –- to all patients in need,” Williams said. Mass General said the pigs used as organ donors were “grown in isolation under special conditions to prevent the pig from being exposed to infections that might harm the human recipient.”
More children are living in poverty across the United Kingdom than ever before, according to official government figures released Thursday. Previous studies have shown that growing social inequalities in the G7 nation have hit children's health and rising numbers are forced to use food banks. An estimated 4.33 million children were living in low-income households…