Pork company Smithfield Foods said it intends to use farm animals to grow organs suitable for human transplantation. This is reported by ScienceAlert.
Experts plan to make changes in the animals' DNA to make their hearts and lungs suitable for transplantation. According to company representatives, this will help achieve another goal - the reduction of biological waste.
Smithfield Foods already supplies pig tissue and organs to medical companies. Thus, the intestinal mucosa is used to obtain heparin, an anticoagulant that prevents blood clotting during surgery. In addition, ingredients of drugs that treat dyspepsia and hypothyroidism are prepared from waste biological materials.
One of the problems that hinders the transplantation of pig organs to humans is the presence in animals of genes that make them susceptible to certain viruses. For a successful transplant and maintaining the organ's working capacity, it is necessary to block the activity of the corresponding DNA.