David Bennett, the 57-year-old American who had the first heart from a genetically modified pig successfully transplanted, died on March 8, two months after the intervention, according to the Maryland hospital.
It is not yet clear whether the death is due to the patient rejecting the organ he received in January. In fact, doctors at the University of Maryland School of Medicine have yet to thoroughly analyze Bennet’s body and hope to publish his findings in a scientific journal.
The man agreed to receive a pig’s heart after being rejected from several waiting lists to receive a human organ. Hours before the intervention he had said: “It was either dying or receiving this transplant. I want to live. "I know it’s a very remote possibility, but it’s my last option."
Prior to the intervention, 10 genetic modifications were made to the donor pig. First, three genes that are responsible for human rejection of pig organs were eliminated from the animal using antibodies.
In turn, six human genes responsible for the immunological acceptance of the animal’s heart were inserted into the genome. Finally, an additional gene was deleted in the pig to prevent excessive growth of heart tissue.
Months ago, the North American regulatory agency, FDA, had granted emergency authorization to this first xenotransplantation as compassionate use, since the patient was medically hopeless. The intervention, the first of its kind, had been expected for years in the scientific and medical community for many years.
