The use of pig livers is being studied an alternative for patients who are awaiting transplants.
An FDA-approved experiment is being conducted at Duke University Medical Center in Durham, N.C., to study the use of pig livers as a temporary substitute until human donor organs can be found. The pig livers are not transplanted into the patient but instead are used outside the body to purify blood in a process that is similar to kidney dialysis.
A similar clinical trial is being launched at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago and Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas to study the external use of pig livers in about 20 patients who need liver transplants. The trial is expected to last about two years. Both studies are being funded by Baxter Healthcare, a pioneer in the development of transgenic animals. The New York Times reported that if the initial attempts are successful, Baxter plans to ask the FDA for permission to use pig organs permanently in people.
Although transplanting the liver into humans is the ultimate goal, researchers first need to address rejection issues and concerns about the risk of exposing humans to animal-borne diseases (see related story). In response to such concerns, the FDA proposed voluntary guidelines in September 1996 that call for screening donor animals for disease, saving tissue samples from both the donor and the recipient, and establishing a national registry of transplant results.
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