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In a modern glass complex in Geneva last month, hundreds of scientists from around the world gathered to share data, review cases — and revel in some astonishing progress.
Their work was once considered the stuff of science fiction: so-called xenotransplantation, the use of animal organs to replace failing kidneys, hearts and livers in humans.
But as the scientists traded notes, it became ever more clear that it wasn’t fiction anymore. They were nearing breakthroughs that might help alleviate the shortage of donor organs plaguing every nation.
Transplants with organs from genetically modified pigs, designed not to trigger rejection by the human body, have begun to show great promise. “The future is here,” said Dr. Muhammad M. Mohiuddin, the outgoing president of the International Xenotransplantation Association, which hosted the conference.
Attendees were told that two patients in their 60s — a man in New England and a woman in China — had survived for more than six months with kidneys from genetically modified pigs. (The organs had to be removed, and the patients returned to dialysis.)
Several clinical trials of such organs are getting underway in the United States. The first participant in a study run by United Therapeutics, a biotech company, has just received a kidney from a pig with 10 gene edits.