Rick Slayman, the first person to ever receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant, died roughly two months after he underwent the surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). MGH said there's "no indication" his death as due to the surgery.
Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in a statement Saturday announced that Rick Slayman, the first person to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant, died roughly two months after he underwent the surgery at the facility. MGH said there was "no indication" his death was due to the transplant.
While more research is needed before xenotransplantation hits the public market, the months of bodily function provided to Slayman mark a historic feat. Legal and ethical factors will also be at play, but the thousands of Americans still waiting for a life-saving transplant can look forward to someday being able to opt into this medical lifeline.
Xenotransplants are morally abhorrent and are also dangerous to humans. Innocent animals should not be bred for the sole purpose of extracting their organs to place in human beings. Furthermore, the parasites carried by these animals could end up inserted into a patient, possibly resulting in the next deadly pandemic.