Take heart .. says Imutran, a
Chambridge-based British biotechoology firm to ailing heart
patients. It is preparing to present them with a brand new set of
is organ that will be carved out
i special breed of transgenic
p dleveloped specifically for
pairpose. The pigs are unique
ammir their organs are
i1pped to t"e a key protein
A till Dow summarily rejected
somy nansplant The latest set
of procin hearts can effectively
block this so called 'hyper acute
rejection'or HAR syndrome.
Imutran began its quest for the ideal
Pig in the mid-80s. Pigs were selected
Because tbeir organs are about the same
as buman organs. After decades of
some research, Imutran decided to
separate human genes in pigs to
sive diat implanted organs are not
m*e& And their strategy seems to
a wmked. A triumphant David
Jk co-founder and medical director
Wspsim announced in a press conference
som in London, that 10 monkeys,
b of which had been given a heart
mi one of the company's herd of
transgenic pigs have survived more than
60 days after the operation. The previous records show that the animals had
collapsed within 60 to 90 minutes. In
other words a major obstacle has been
overcome. The company is now confident that its technology is "ready to be
tested on humans," and expects to start
its first trials early next year at the
Papworth hospital near Cambridge.
The researchers are extremely excited about this latest breakthrough. "it is
a real step forward," exudes Fritz Bach
of the Harvard Medical School's Sandoz
Centre for Inummobiology.- He was the
first to decipher the factor responsible
for the rejection of donor organs - the
dreaded HAR syndrome. The
transplant surgeons too, are
eagerly monitoring Imutran's
progress. "We are waiting with
bated breath for the case to be
proven in clinical trials," says
Michael Thick, member of the
British Association in New
Castle.
Of course, there are sceptics
galore who argue that such
experiments are premature. They
claim that more research has
to be put into studying other
long term effects in addition
to HAR which can lead to eventual transplant rejection. White,
however, counters their argument by
pointing out that the unexpectedly high
survival levels of monkeys which
were given transgenic hearts has boosted the company's confidence tremen-
dously. "As far as we can see, the other
hurdles have not raised their head at the
timeframe of our experiment," he says.
He accuses his critics of expecting too
much too soon. "We are talking about
designing a Model-T Ford, while other
people are saying, 'let's not go out
driving until we have a Ferrari'," he
comments.
We are a voice to you; you have been a support to us. Together we build journalism that is independent, credible and fearless. You can further help us by making a donation. This will mean a lot for our ability to bring you news, perspectives and analysis from the ground so that we can make change together.
Comments are moderated and will be published only after the site moderator’s approval. Please use a genuine email ID and provide your name. Selected comments may also be used in the ‘Letters’ section of the Down To Earth print edition.