Human and pig genes match

Two genomic studies claim to provide crucial data for improving pig stock and biomedical research

Published on:

15 Nov 2012, 9:23 am

In 1997, Dhani Ram Baruah, a cardiac surgeon in Assam tried to transplant the heart and lungs of a pig into a patient. The patient died and Baruah was arrested for breaking the law governing human transplantation. Despite the fact that pigs provide pharmaceutical-grade heparin and heart valves for transplantations, whole organ transplantation between different animals usually fail due to genetic incompatibility.

At that time, the genome of neither man nor pig was known. While human genome was deciphered in 2003, two studies published on November 14 provide some insight into pigs’ genome. Although it cannot be said if the information would have helped Baruah’s patient, the researchers claim the studies provide crucial data for improving pig stock and biomedical research.

What the two studies found

Physiology of the Wuzhishan pigs and humans is 84 per cent similar at the genetic level
While genes involved in coronary artery disease were very much alike in humans and pigs, there are several important differences that need to be taken into account in future research
The studies identified 112 positions in the genome where pig protein has the same amino acid that is implicated in a human disease. This supports the use of pig in studies on human diseases
Comparisons between domestic and wild pigs revealed that European and Asian breeds were distinct, suggesting the pigs were domesticated independently in western Eurasia and East Asia
The pig has more unique olfactory genes than humans, mice or dogs. This means that while pigs can smell things humans and other animals cannot, their sense of taste does not keep up and they end up eating everything

Wild Boar