CRISPR’d pigs offer hope for the human organ transplant shortage

Techcrunch ------- Pig organs are the same size as human organs and function pretty much the same way, but pig to human transplantation has long been an elusive goal for researchers due to fear of activating dormant viral diseases in the pig’s cells.But there’s hope on the horizon, thanks to a new study out in Science today involving CRISPR’d piglets. Researchers in the study used the gene-editing technology to effectively cut out a porcine endogenous retrovirus (PERV) commonly found throughout pig bodies. The findings represent an important breakthrough in the potential for xenotransplantation, or the use of animal organs in humans. Currently there are more than 117,000 men, women and children on the donor waiting list in the U.S., 22 of whom die each day from lack of a matching donor. The ability to use a pig heart, lungs or other body parts could shore up the shortage and save numerous lives. To learn more click on the picture below to read the article.