Man given genetically modified pig heart dies

My friend was a member of the transplant team at Johns Hopkins. "They" said he was near multiple organ failure prior to the transplant. And he survived significantly longer than expected. Recovery under those circumstances was a very long shot already. Kudos to him for undergoing the procedure, and furthering the research. Condolences to he and his family.

Related:<p><i>US man who got first pig heart transplant dies after 2 months</i> - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=30615375" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=30615375</a> - March 2022 (3 comments)<p><i>Two weeks later David Bennett is alive, his pig’s heart beating soundly</i> - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=30080472" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=30080472</a> - Jan 2022 (490 comments)<p><i>The doctor behind the first pig-to-human heart transplant</i> - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=30044630" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=30044630</a> - Jan 2022 (3 comments)<p><i>In a First, Man Receives a Heart from a Genetically Altered Pig</i> - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=29900921" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=29900921</a> - Jan 2022 (2 comments)<p><i>U.S. surgeons transplant pig heart into human patient</i> - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=29882912" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;news.ycombinator.com&#x2F;item?id=29882912</a> - Jan 2022 (701 comments)

He lasted 2 months. For reference, artificial hearts generally do 130 days - (2018) <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;syncardia.com&#x2F;patients&#x2F;media&#x2F;blog&#x2F;2018&#x2F;08&#x2F;seven-things-about-artificial-hearts&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;syncardia.com&#x2F;patients&#x2F;media&#x2F;blog&#x2F;2018&#x2F;08&#x2F;seven-thin...</a> with some notable outliers that live for years, and human to human transplant is about 9 years. Usually it&#x27;s some related systemic problem that kills you under these conditions eg consistent brain clotting causing stroke or organ failure due to drug cocktails.

Similarly, the first human heart transplant patient only lasted 18 days. It&#x27;s proof of concept, not the final iteration.

“Currently 17 people die every day in the US waiting for a transplant, with more than 100,000 reportedly on the waiting list.”<p>David Bennett was only 57. Heart disease, and related issues are a big problem.<p>While I’m hopeful for this technology, I wish there was a way for people to see heart issues coming much earlier in life so they can attempt to treat, or delay, the problem.

<a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;apnews.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;pig-heart-transplant-patient-dies-bc3b304de3c8d3bf3acbb3c221960ecf" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;apnews.com&#x2F;article&#x2F;pig-heart-transplant-patient-dies...</a><p>&gt;Bennett’s doctors said he had heart failure and an irregular heartbeat, plus a history of not complying with medical instructions.<p>&gt;Patients may see Bennett’s death as suggesting a short life-expectancy from xenotransplantation, but the experience of one desperately ill person cannot predict how well this procedure ultimately will work, said ethics expert Karen Maschke of The Hastings Center. That will require careful studies of multiple patients with similar medical histories.

&gt; Exactly what has happened since and the precise cause of Mr Bennett&#x27;s death is not clear.<p>Which is the most useful information (next to the actual end of a human life here).<p>Did he die because the heart was ultimately rejected, or did he die from underlying complications that had made him ineligible for a human heart transplant in the first place?<p>If the latter, I&#x27;d still call this whole story a significant success and a possible step on the road to providing more transplants for people worldwide who won&#x27;t survive without a new heart.

Man Given Genetically Modified Pig Heart Survives Two Months

The most most interesting part of this story is they needed to delete the porcine endogenous retroviruses from the pig dna before the heart could be transplanted since that can infect humans. Next step is to use Crispr to kosher bacon.

May he rest in peace - he had some additional happy days from what it looks like, and he helped science advance a bit, kudos to him.<p>What worried me was when I read he was &quot;not eligible&quot; to be a recipient of a human heart; I hope this is not just because he had a bad (or no) insurance.

Stupid question ?<p>Could they actually enhance the heart to be 10x stronger than a normal human. Giving the recipient superpowers.<p>I&#x27;m imagining the movie now BearMan, of course, we&#x27;re still in the early stages, but I can imagine in 50 or 60 years being able to pick out all types of super enhanced implants.<p>All jokes aside, this man is a hero for trying such a crazy experiment, may he be the first but not the last. If this technology is perfected, no one will ever die waiting for a transplant again.

this is sad.<p>it&#x27;s kind of bizarre from a mile high view, but all so normal too, that no one comments on the sacrifice of a pig, i found myself observing.

If you genetically engineer a pig to more like a human.<p>When does it stop being a pig and start being a human and given the rights of a person<p>If you genetically engineer a human to be more like a pig, at what point does it stop being a human.<p>I see a future where genetically modified humans grown in tanks raised for their organs, different enough were they are not legally classes as humans and you can farm them.

Sure. Everybody dies. He also lived way longer than expected with the big heart.

Condolences to his family and friends. Man was hero, his action to undergo experimental treatment going to help the researchers.

Porcine biologics have generally underperformed expectations, often with neutral clinical effectiveness.

I find this whole story really disturbing.

People die some day because of some disease. This is natural.<p>Give people a heart from other species, this is unnatural.<p>I&#x27;d rather transform my brain and thoughts into a robot.