Organ transplants have given millions of people a new lease on life. The one bad thing about organ transplantation is that there are not nearly enough organs to go around, especially for critical organs like lungs and hearts.

One potential solution to this problem is using animal organs, but the human immune system will attack those organs once they are put in. Plus, animal organs aren’t exactly like human ones, so it is much more difficult to get the organ to work as it should.

A way around this that many researchers are working on is using CRISPR gene editing technology to make the animal’s organ more like a human one. With this in mind, scientists in China have genetically modified a pig, harvested one of its lungs, and transplanted it into a human patient for the very first time.

The details of the entire process were turned into a research paper that was published in the journal Nature.

The lung was transplanted into a 39-year-old male who had already been declared brain-dead. This lung transplant was more seen as a trial to see how the human body would react than it was an actual life-saving effort. The patient’s family allowed his body to be used for this purpose in the hopes that the advancements made would help others in the future, and they just might.

While the transplant did not go perfectly, researchers were able to gather a lot of data throughout the process. The patient was given immunosuppressive drugs to prevent the body from rejecting the organ. After about 24 hours, however, they noticed that the body was making white blood cells that were attacking the lung.

This rejection of the organ is a significant risk of xenotransplantation (transplanting organs between species). The doctors used medication to try to stop the rejection, but after nine days, the patient’s family asked that the experiment be put to an end.

The information gathered in this study could be used to help improve the gene editing process, so that future patients who receive organ transplants from pigs (or other animals) may have better results.

This xenotransplant was not the first time that gene edited pig organs were attempted to be put into humans. US doctors successfully put a gene-edited pig kidney into a patient, allowing him to live for two months last year. In a world where human organs are in such short supply, even a temporary solution like this is often seen as a win. In addition to the two months of life, this gave doctors the opportunity to learn more about the process so that it can be further improved.

Of course, xenotransplantation is not yet ready for everyday use. University of Toronto professor of thoracic surgery, Shaf Keshavjee, recently told STAT:

“It’s not ready for prime time. Importantly, they’ve shown us we’re not there yet; don’t go trying this on a patient because it ain’t going to work.”

Jiang Shi, the coauthor of the study and a Guangzhou Medical University physician, added:

“For our team, this accomplishment is a meaningful beginning. Lung xenotransplantation presents unique biological and technical challenges compared to other organs. Our aim is to create a rigorous scientific pathway toward a safe, durable lung xenograft, not to claim clinical readiness today.”

It goes without saying that medical advancements take time and lots of research, but pushing forward to a world where there is no shortage of organs available for transplant is a great goal. While this process was not a full success, it undoubtedly gives many people hope for a solution beyond just waiting for another person with viable organs to die.

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