Funding for xenotransplantation (IMAGE)
Caption
Two new research agreements will provide $21.4 million to Johns Hopkins Medicine’s Kazuhiko Yamada, M.D., Ph.D. (seen here) and Andrew Cameron, M.D., Ph.D., to support preclinical research necessary to achieve successful xenotransplantation (animal organs transplanted into humans) in the near future and help reduce organ shortages. Among the studies planned: modifying pigs so that they lack the gene that produces alpha-gal sugar (molecule at bottom center), an immune system stimulant. Without the sugar, donated pig kidneys are more likely to be ignored by the body’s defense mechanism and be accepted.
Credit
Graphic created by M.E. Newman, Johns Hopkins Medicine, using profile photo courtesy of Dr. Yamada, and public domain images courtesy of Muhammad Airil (kidney) and MolView (alpha-gal sugar molecule)
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