By Janet Ogundepo The President of the Nigerian Association of Nephrology and Transplant Association of Nigeria, Prof Jacob Awobusuyi, says nephrologists and transplant experts are working hard to improve the availability of organs for transplant ethically. His statement is coming amid the organ harvesting saga in Nigeria and the challenges recorded from the pig-to-human kidney and heart transplant carried out in the United States of America. The ongoing development in the field of organ transplantation, particularly the use of genetically modified pig organs, has sparked significant interest and discussion within the medical community.
In March 2024, the Massachusetts General Hospital, for the first time, transplanted a genetically modified pig kidney into a living person. Before the transplant, AP News reported that pig kidneys had been temporarily transplanted into brain-dead donors. In April 2024, a woman in New York, USA, became the second person to receive a genetically modified pig kidney.
While recent reports noted that the recipient was doing well, the first person to have the transplant, Rick Slayman, died a few weeks after the transplant. But the British Broadcasting Service, reports that the US hospital where the transplant was carried out said Slayman’s death was not as a result of the transplant. Meanwhile, in September 2023, a genetically modified pig heart was transplanted into a 58-year-old man, Lawrence Faucette, making him the world’s second patient to .
