Photo for representation
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<strong>In a major transplant breakthrough in health science, a US medical team has succeeded in attaching a pig&rsquo;s kidney to a human being. The surgeon who led this procedure described it as a &ldquo;potential miracle&rdquo;.</strong></p>
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The experiment assumes great significance because of the dire shortage of the organ for transplantation in the world&rsquo;s growing number of serious diabetes patients. India, in particular, has emerged as the one of the worst affected countries with as many as 77 million people suffering from diabetes, a disease that damages the kidneys.</p>
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Diabetes has led to a scramble for kidney replacement thereby encouraging illegal organ harvesting by either tempting the poor to part with the organ or forcibly extracting it. This has created a serious legal and social problem.</p>
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The successful kidney transplant was done last month, and involved a genetically modified&nbsp; donor animal, and a brain dead patient on a ventilator. The patient&rsquo;s family had agreed for the two-day experiment, for advancement of science.</p>
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Talking to the media about the experiment, Robert Montgomery, Director of the Transplant Institute at New York University (NYU) Langone, said: &ldquo;It did what it&#39;s supposed to do, which is remove waste and make urine.&rdquo; What is vital is that the organ reduces the level of the molecule creatinine which indicates the health of the kidney, which had increased in the patient before the transplant.</p>
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The organ was joined to the blood vessels of the patient&rsquo;s legs to enable observing its function and take biopsy samples</p>
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While research done previously had shown that pig&rsquo;s kidneys are viable for nonhuman primates, this is the first time it has been attempted with a human patient.</p>
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What is noteworthy is that the donor pig had undergone a genetic editing procedure to knock out a gene that produces a particular sugar. This was necessary otherwise it would have caused strong immunity responses and rejection of the organ.</p>
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In humans&#803;, pig heart valves are used widely as are the animal&rsquo;s skin for grafting. The animal is an ideal donor due to its size, rapid growth and large litters.</p>
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Montgomery said the technique would in future provide a &quot;renewable source of organs,&quot; much like wind and solar provide sustainable energy.</p>
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