The following report is from Wion:
The first person to receive gene-edited heart of a pig has died two months after getting a historic transplant.
The procedure raised hopes that advances in cross-species organ donation could one day solve the chronic shortage of human organs available for donation, and the team behind the operation say they still remain optimistic about its future success.
David Bennett, 57, had received his transplant on January 7 and passed away March 8, the University of Maryland Medical System said in a statement.
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His condition began deteriorating several days ago, the hospital said in a statement on Wednesday, adding that Bennett was given “compassionate palliative care” after it became clear that he would not recover.
Bennett was able to communicate with his family during his final hours, the hospital said.
He proved to be a brave and noble patient who fought all the way to the end. We extend our sincerest condolences to his family.
Said Bartley Griffith, the surgeon who led the procedure.
Bennett’s doctors said he had heart failure and an irregular heartbeat, plus a history of not complying with medical instructions.
Bennett’s son praised the hospital for offering the last-ditch experiment, saying the family hoped it would help further efforts to end the organ shortage.
We are grateful for every innovative moment, every crazy dream, every sleepless night that went into this historic effort. We hope this story can be the beginning of hope and not the end.
David Bennett Jr. said in a statement released by the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
Bennett first came to UMMC as a patient in October and was placed on a heart-lung bypass machine to keep him alive, but he was deemed ineligible for a conventional heart transplant.
After Bennett was implanted with a pig heart that had been genetically modified to prevent rejection in a first-of-its-kind surgery, his son called the procedure “a miracle.”
The surgery, performed by a team at the hospital, was among the first to demonstrate the feasibility of a pig-to-human heart transplant, a field made possible by new gene editing tools. For Bennett, the procedure was his last option.
Before consenting to receive the transplant, Mr. Bennett was fully informed of the procedure’s risks, and that the procedure was experimental with unknown risks and benefits.
The hospital said.
We have gained invaluable insights learning that the genetically modified pig heart can function well within the human body while the immune system is adequately suppressed.
We remain optimistic and plan on continuing our work in future clinical trials.
Said Muhammad Mohiuddin, director of the university’s cardiac xenotransplantation program.
Reporting in US media also revealed Bennett was convicted of stabbing a man several times in 1988, leaving the victim paralysed and needing to use a wheelchair before he died in 2005.
Medical ethicists hold that a person’s past criminal history should have no bearing on their future health treatment.
Pigs have long been a tantalising source of potential transplants because their organs are so similar to humans.
Prior efforts at pig-to-human transplants had failed because of genetic differences that caused organ rejection or viruses that posed an infection risk.
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AUTHOR COMMENTARY
As a jewel of gold in a swine’s snout, so is a fair woman which is without discretion.
Proverbs 11:22
I was going to initially report on this man’s Frankenstein surgery, but seeing as he now just died and this “miracle” squealed, I figured I’d mention it now.
But, will the mad scientists learn from this mischievous and deviant ways? Will the people observe and condemn these wicked devices. Don’t kid yourself. Rather, they will continue headlong therein; as we are now into the age of transhumanism, where anything goes.
I plan to do a report in the near future discussing how man is being turned into beasts, and what the scriptures have to say about that.
But it is happened unto them according to the true proverb, The dog is turned to his own vomit again; and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.
2 Peter 2:22
[7] Who goeth a warfare any time at his own charges? who planteth a vineyard, and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock, and eateth not of the milk of the flock? [8] Say I these things as a man? or saith not the law the same also? [9] For it is written in the law of Moses, Thou shalt not muzzle the mouth of the ox that treadeth out the corn. Doth God take care for oxen? [10] Or saith he it altogether for our sakes? For our sakes, no doubt, this is written: that he that ploweth should plow in hope; and that he that thresheth in hope should be partaker of his hope. (1 Corinthians 9:7-10).
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There’s a sense of irony somewhere in that man’s death. Triple entendre? Poetry, maybe?