Cloning of pigs bring xenotransplants closer

Five piglets have been cloned from an adult female in a significant milestone on the road to successful organ transplants from pigs to humans. The cloning paves the way for the next step towards pig derived xenotransplants—the production of modified or so-called knock-out pigs, whereby a specific gene linked to hyperacute rejection in humans has been inactivated.

PPL Therapeutics, which cloned the piglets, predict that the market for solid organs alone could be worth $6bn (£3.75bn), with as much again from cellular therapies like transplantable cells for insulin production in diabetic patients.

The next step for PPL, which carried out its pig cloning …