ISCIII's National Biobanks and Biomodels Platform
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Professor of Pathological Anatomy at the University of Oviedo
Scientific Director of the Principality of Asturias Biobank (BioPA)
Coordinator of the Organoid hub of the ISCIII Biomodels and Biobanks platform
In 2024, a team of researchers in China transplanted a pig's liver for the first time, with six genes modified to prevent rejection, into a person who was brain dead. After 10 days, they evaluated the condition of the organ and the recipient. According to the authors, who are now publishing the work in the journal Nature, the results suggest that genetically modified pig livers can survive and function in humans, which could serve as a bridge therapy for patients with liver failure who are waiting for human donors.
Patients receiving organ transplants often need to be treated with long-term immunosuppressants to reduce the likelihood of rejection, which has numerous side effects. An international team has shown in crab macaque monkeys that, in the case of heart transplantation, the use of these drugs could be avoided if combined with a kidney transplant from the same donor. The results are published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
A multidisciplinary team of researchers has succeeded in developing different types of organoids from cells obtained from amniotic fluid. According to the authors, this breakthrough could help to better understand the later stages of development during pregnancy and to advance research into congenital anomalies. The study is published in the journal Nature Medicine.