Could this be the future of organ transplants?
"We essentially regrow the organ," said Jeff Ross, CEO of Miromatrix. "Our bodies won't see it as a pig organ anymore."The company has ambitious plans for the first-of-its-kind human testing of a bioengineered organ to take place sometime in 2023.
If that "liver assist" process proves successful, the next step would be attempting a bioengineered organ transplant, likely a kidney."It all sounds science fiction-ey but it's got to start somewhere," said Dr. Sander Florman, a transplant chief at New York's Mount Sinai Hospital, one of many hospitals that have agreed to participate in the liver-assist study.
Animals, however, can provide a sustainable source of organs, and bioengineering organs can make the transplantation of animal organs viable. But to make these animal organs usable, the pig cells need to be stripped away as this removes some of the risks of xenotransplantation, such as lurking animal viruses or hyper-rejection. This process already has FDA approval for another purpose, the production of a type of surgical mesh.Now, Miromatrix plans to use it to make animal organs suitable for human use. This is easier said than done, however.