Experiment Puts Pig's Kidney in Brain-dead Human Body
2023-08-20
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1Doctors in New York City have transplanted a pig's organ into a brain-dead man and watched as it performed normally for over a month.
2Brain death is a state in which a person's brain no longer carries out even its most basic activities for life.
3The pig kidney transplant is a step toward realizing the hopes of the New York team to try the operation on living patients.
4Scientists around the country want to learn how to use animal organs to save human lives.
5Doctors believe bodies donated for research will help them develop the operation for patients.
6The latest experiment was announced Wednesday by New York University Langone Health.
7It marks the longest time that a pig kidney has worked in a living or dead person.
8And the experiment is not over.
9Researchers will follow the kidney's performance for a second month.
10"Is this organ really going to work like a human organ? So far, it's looking like it is," Dr. Robert Montgomery told The Associated Press.
11He is the director of NYU Langone's transplant institute.
12"It looks even better than a human kidney," Montgomery said on July 14.
13On that day, he replaced a dead man's own kidneys with a single kidney from a genetically engineered pig.
14He watched the replaced pig kidney immediately start producing urine.
15The possibility that pig kidneys might one day reduce the shortage of transplantable organs persuaded the family of Maurice "Mo" Miller to donate his body.
16He had died suddenly at 57 with a formerly undiagnosed brain cancer, which did not permit for usual organ donation.
17"I struggled with it," his sister, Mary Miller-Duffy, told the AP about her decision.
18But he liked helping others and "I think this is what my brother would want. So, I offered my brother to them."
19"He's going to be in the medical books, and he will live on forever," she added.
20Attempts at successfully performing animal-to-human transplants, or xenotransplantation, have failed for many years.
21Often, the human immune system attacks the foreign tissue.
22Now researchers are using pigs genetically engineered so their organs are a better fit for human bodies.
23The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering approval of some small but detailed studies of pig heart or kidney transplants in volunteer patients.
24More than 100,000 patients are on the United States' transplant list.
25The University of Maryland's Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin warns that it is not clear if a dead body reacts the same way as a live body to a pig organ.
26But he said the research educates the public about xenotransplantation, so "people will not be shocked."
27Before this most recent experiment, NYU and a team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham tested a pig kidney transplant in a dead body for just two or three days.
28An NYU team has also tested transplanted pig hearts on donated bodies for three days of intense testing.
29But how long should these experiments last? University of Alabama's Dr. Jayme Locke said that it is not clear.
30Among the moral questions is how long a family can emotionally deal with it.
31Because keeping a body alive after the brain has died is difficult.
32In her own experiment, the donated body was stable enough that if the study wasn't required to end after a week, "I think we could have gone much longer, which I think offers great hope," she said.
33I'm Gregory Stachel.
1Doctors in New York City have transplanted a pig's organ into a brain-dead man and watched as it performed normally for over a month. 2Brain death is a state in which a person's brain no longer carries out even its most basic activities for life. 3The pig kidney transplant is a step toward realizing the hopes of the New York team to try the operation on living patients. 4Scientists around the country want to learn how to use animal organs to save human lives. Doctors believe bodies donated for research will help them develop the operation for patients. 5The latest experiment was announced Wednesday by New York University Langone Health. It marks the longest time that a pig kidney has worked in a living or dead person. And the experiment is not over. Researchers will follow the kidney's performance for a second month. 6"Is this organ really going to work like a human organ? So far, it's looking like it is," Dr. Robert Montgomery told The Associated Press. He is the director of NYU Langone's transplant institute. 7"It looks even better than a human kidney," Montgomery said on July 14. On that day, he replaced a dead man's own kidneys with a single kidney from a genetically engineered pig. He watched the replaced pig kidney immediately start producing urine. 8The possibility that pig kidneys might one day reduce the shortage of transplantable organs persuaded the family of Maurice "Mo" Miller to donate his body. He had died suddenly at 57 with a formerly undiagnosed brain cancer, which did not permit for usual organ donation. 9"I struggled with it," his sister, Mary Miller-Duffy, told the AP about her decision. But he liked helping others and "I think this is what my brother would want. So, I offered my brother to them." 10"He's going to be in the medical books, and he will live on forever," she added. 11Attempts at successfully performing animal-to-human transplants, or xenotransplantation, have failed for many years. Often, the human immune system attacks the foreign tissue. Now researchers are using pigs genetically engineered so their organs are a better fit for human bodies. 12The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering approval of some small but detailed studies of pig heart or kidney transplants in volunteer patients. 13More than 100,000 patients are on the United States' transplant list. 14The University of Maryland's Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin warns that it is not clear if a dead body reacts the same way as a live body to a pig organ. But he said the research educates the public about xenotransplantation, so "people will not be shocked." 15Before this most recent experiment, NYU and a team from the University of Alabama at Birmingham tested a pig kidney transplant in a dead body for just two or three days. An NYU team has also tested transplanted pig hearts on donated bodies for three days of intense testing. 16But how long should these experiments last? University of Alabama's Dr. Jayme Locke said that it is not clear. Among the moral questions is how long a family can emotionally deal with it. Because keeping a body alive after the brain has died is difficult. 17In her own experiment, the donated body was stable enough that if the study wasn't required to end after a week, "I think we could have gone much longer, which I think offers great hope," she said. 18I'm Gregory Stachel. 19Lauran Neergaard reported this story for the Associated Press. Gregory Stachel adapted it for VOA Learning English. 20________________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22transplant - v. to perform a medical operation in which an organ or other part that has been removed from the body of one person is put into the body of another person 23institute -n. an organization created for research or education 24urine - n. waste liquid that collects in the bladder before leaving the body 25undiagnosed - v. to recognize (a disease or illness) by examining someone 26immune system - n. the system that protects the body from diseases and infections 27stable - adj. not getting worse or likely to get worse 28________________________________________________ 29What do you think of this story? 30We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 31Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.