India still decades away from animal organ transplants, says leading AIIMS cardiac surgeon | India News
Leading cardiothoracic and vascular surgeon at AIIMS New Delhi, Dr Devagourou Velayoudam , talks to Padma Rao Sundarji for Times of Online, on the recent pig-to-human heart transplant in the United States, and the future of xenotransplantation in India. Q: Earlier this month, doctors at a US hospital transplanted a pig’s heart into a human being for the first time in history. Opinion is divided among biotechnologists and surgeons. Some are sceptical, others excited. How about you? A: I look at it both ways. On the one hand, it’s a real milestone in science. There is always a shortage of human organs. So, this achievement by the Maryland medical team is a great breakthrough in terms of science and what it can achieve. Their procedure began with genetic engineering. They genetically modified a pig. In simple terms, they had to tackle ten genes in the pig. They deleted four, modified one to prevent the pig’s heart from growing, and added six genes. They did this to decrease responses...