Kunming, Animal Experiment Center.
In the operating room, a shocking organ transplant operation is underway.
On the two operating tables in the center, there was a piglet lying on one side and a macaque on the other.
The two animals were similar in size, and both were anesthetized and fell into a peaceful slumber.
There was a dense circle of people surrounding the operating table, including medical staff from the experimental center and Sanqing project personnel.
At this time, each of them was staring at the pig with burning eyes, their faces showing extreme shock, mixed with a hint of joy.
Huang Qin and Ding Mian were also standing in front of the crowd, but their expressions were relatively calm.
As the pig's belly was cut open, a small and exquisite kidney that looked like a lentil was taken out.
Everyone took a breath at the same time, and couldn't help but let out an exclamation.
Even the surgeon involuntarily stopped and looked at the kidney repeatedly in his hand.
It seems that they are trying to figure out how it is different from a human kidney and whether it can be regarded as a human kidney.
It looked like he couldn't put it down, as if he wanted to do a structural anatomy of this freshly baked kidney immediately to clear up his doubts.
"Is this a human kidney growing out of a pig?"
"It looks quite exquisite, but I don't know what the specific structure is?"
"It looks quite similar in appearance, but I don't know if it has the same function."
"I never expected that Sanqing could really come up with something like this."
"If we need organ transplants in the future, will we no longer have to worry?"
"The sight of human organs growing on pigs is really amazing. It's not that I don't understand it, it's that the world is changing too fast."
Amidst the murmurs of discussion, the surgeon quickly came to another operating table to prepare for the transplant operation.
The onlookers moved in unison, came to another operating table, and surrounded him again.
The surgeon in charge has performed hundreds of animal transplant surgeries in the past year, and his technique has reached its peak, reaching a level of proficiency and proficiency.
With a smooth operation, it only took him more than an hour to stuff the two kidneys from the pig into the stomach of the macaque.
After suturing the blood vessels and incisions, the surgeon put down the surgical tools in his hand, exhaled a long breath, and shouted excitedly.
“The world’s first human kidney-to-animal transplant operation was successfully completed!”
Thunderous applause broke out instantly.
Dean Liu walked up to Ding Mian and Huang Qin with a smile on his face and congratulated: "Two directors, the operation was successful. Congratulations to you."
The two of them smiled slightly at the same time. Huang Qin was about to be modest when he heard that Ding Mian had already spoken, sputtering out a long sentence like pouring beans.
"The next time is critical. Someone must be stationed nearby to closely monitor the physical condition of this macaque."
"The most worrying thing is acute rejection. If it occurs, targeted treatment is required. I won't say much about this. I believe you all know how to do it."
"If it can survive 24 hours, it means that it has passed the first step of the test and entered the next stage, which is the functional testing stage."
"The sign of this stage is the formation of urine. If the macaque can urinate smoothly, it means that the transplanted kidney can work. If it cannot produce urine, a kidney biopsy is needed to find out the reason as soon as possible."
"The macaque should be fine in the future, it just depends on how long it lives and whether chronic rejection will occur, whether it's serious or not."
"Based on the previous cases of pig kidney transplantation, there should be no problem in surviving for more than 3 months."
"In short, detailed experimental records are required at each stage so that sufficient data can be obtained."
Dean Liu was stunned for a moment after hearing these words, but his expression did not change and he immediately agreed.
"No problem. We have been working together for so long. I understand all what you said. I will make appropriate arrangements and won't let you down."
Ding Mian nodded with satisfaction: "The first 24 hours are very important. If there is any emergency, please come to me at any time."
"This time we used a kidney with the highest chimerism rate, a full 92%. I think the success rate of survival of the macaque should be very high."
"When it survives for more than a week, we will continue to perform other organ transplant operations."
Dean Liu couldn't believe his ears for a moment and asked in great surprise: "Besides kidneys, do you have any other organs to transplant?"
"They all grow from pigs? Are they going to be transplanted into macaques?"
"That's right, we still have three organs that need transplantation: heart, liver, and pancreatic islets. I forgot to mention it to you before. I'm really sorry." Ding Mian showed an embarrassed smile.
Dean Liu was completely stunned at this moment, and he was a little confused.
After a while, he came back to his senses and confirmed again seriously.
"You mean, you made the heart, liver, kidney, and pancreas all grow on pigs this time? Are they all human internal organs?"
"Yes. But we have to wait until it is transplanted into macaques to see how it functions before we can confirm whether the experiment is successful."
Ding Mian said seriously: "If the transplant fails, it means that our experiment still has fatal flaws and cannot be considered a success. We need to make persistent efforts."
"However, we have a backup of each organ this time. We can transplant it several times and try to find out the reasons for failure so that targeted improvements can be made."
"The only worry is that the chimerism rate of these backup organs is relatively low. I'm afraid the transplant surgery will only be lower."
"What do you think? Qin, why don't you say anything?" He frowned, suddenly turned his head, and asked Huang Qin for his opinion.
"Your mouth is like a machine gun. It never stops chirping. How can I have a chance to express my opinion?" Huang Qin said speechlessly.
"However, at this point, I can only let it go. Maybe the first transplant operation will be successful."
Huang Qin was quite open-minded. His expectations were not high. He looked at the experiment with the mentality that success was good and failure was nothing, so naturally he was not so worried.
These words immediately made Dean Liu feel sad, and he agreed: "That's right, Director Ding, I very much agree with Director Huang's opinion."
"As long as we do our best, we don't have to worry too much about success or failure. Besides, scientific research is full of accidents and miracles, so you have to believe in yourself."
"Okay." Ding Mian nodded and said no more.
He looked at the watch on his wrist, pondered for a moment, and said, "I still have something to do, so I'll go back first. Remember to call me after the anesthesia is over and you can urinate."
Huang Qin raised his hand: "It's okay, I can stay here. It's only the morning anyway. I'll have lunch later and continue to keep an eye on it in the afternoon. The results will definitely come out in the evening."
Ding Mian cast an appreciative look at him: "Well, I'll feel more at ease with you personally watching."
Surprisingly, within an hour, the newly transplanted kidney was producing urine.
Although the amount was very small, only a few dozen milliliters, it still caused everyone to scream.
For the next 24 hours, Huang Qin stayed in the ward, monitoring the monkey's physical condition.
When you feel tired, lie down for a while and work harder than the medical staff.
Perhaps this diligent attitude brought good luck. The macaque did not suffer from acute rejection and produced hundreds of milliliters of urine within 24 hours.
Substances such as creatinine were detected in the urine, which is enough to prove that the kidneys are working normally and excrete metabolites from the body.
Common organ transplant complications such as renal tubular necrosis, thrombotic microvascular disease, and coagulation dysfunction did not occur.
Although 8% of the cells in the transplanted kidney belong to pigs, such as blood vessels, nervous system, etc., after genetic modification, they did not show immune rejection and functioned normally in the macaques.
Of course, this all happened while taking immunosuppressive drugs.
In short, three days after the transplant operation, everyone knew that the operation was really successful.
Next, as long as the monkey survives three months, even if something goes wrong and dies, it will not affect the overall situation.
****
In the spacious breeding room, four happy macaques are raised in four adjacent enclosures.
"These are four monkeys that have undergone organ transplants. They are in good condition now. They can jump around, eat, drink and enjoy life here."
Dean Liu told the reporters who came to interview him. With his amiable smile and white coat, he looked very professional and very intimidating to ordinary people.
After saying that, he pointed to a ceiling-mounted TV in front of the fence.
"They watch TV every day and their favorites are cartoons about squirrels."
"The most important thing is that they are healthy and normal, which is very surprising."
"Because what's beating in this monkey's chest is a human heart, which is not normal for a monkey at all."
Dean Liu pointed to a macaque with obviously white hair on its chest and abdomen. The chest hair of the other three were all a little yellow, which was quite obvious in comparison.
The reporter and the photographer showed shocked expressions at the same time. The latter immediately pointed the camera at the monkey and took a snap.
After the filming, the reporter couldn't wait to ask: "Can you tell me specifically what happened?"
"In the past, we only heard that pig hearts can be transplanted into monkeys. Is there a major technological breakthrough now?"
"Haha, that's right." Dean Liu explained the situation one by one.
"Speaking of which, we have to mention the major scientific research achievements of Sanqing Group. They have been able to make pigs grow human internal organs, hearts, livers, and kidneys, all without any problems."
"About a month ago, we successively performed xenogeneic organ transplant operations on a group of monkeys. Some of them only had a human heart in their bodies, while others had multiple organs including heart, liver, and kidneys."
"The operation went very smoothly. These monkeys are in the best condition after the operation. They are expected to live for more than half a year. We are very confident about this."
The reporter's expression became dull and his eyes widened as he digested the huge amount of information.
After a while, he swallowed his saliva and asked the next question with difficulty.
“Can this technology completely solve the problem of human organ transplant shortage?”
"Of course." Dean Liu explained eloquently: "We have done many experiments before, genetically modifying pigs, and then transplanting pig hearts and kidneys into baboons."
"Initially things were good, we gave the baboons different drugs and successfully suppressed immune rejection."
"But these animals don't live long, and three out of five die of heart failure. Compared with the hearts of humans and even primates, pig hearts are more fragile and cannot adapt to the high blood pressure caused by walking upright."
"During the ischemic time between removal from the pig and implantation in the baboon, the heart can also suffer damage similar to that caused by a heart attack. The human heart can recover from this damage, but the pig heart cannot. recover."
"Similar to the heart, there are kidneys. Transplanted pig kidneys will suffer microvascular damage, which can lead to kidney failure over time."
"In addition, long-term use of human immunosuppressive drugs also has intolerable side effects on pig organs, such as vascular diseases such as stroke."
"It can be seen that pig organs can only solve short-term problems. In the long run, they still cannot save the patient's life."
"Under these circumstances, pig xenotransplantation research has almost come to a standstill."
"Sanqing had to turn to a more difficult route, which was to let pigs grow human organs."
"Fortunately, they succeeded and you have what you see before you."
"Look at this monkey, it has a human heart, and it's still alive." Dean Liu couldn't help but get excited when he said this.
"Can you imagine that such a wonderful scene would happen before today?"
"This is the miracle of life!"
The reporter's eyes have been focused on this monkey with white chest hair. Looking at the monkey's smooth hair and healthy and powerful movements, no matter where you look, you can't tell that this is a monkey that has had an organ transplant.
He couldn't help but let out a sigh.
"This is not science fiction, this is real."
"Human biotechnology has developed to this point. Science fiction movies have finally become reality, and there are really inexhaustible artificial organs."
Then, he seemed to have thought of something and asked excitedly: "Since the animal experiments were so successful, surely human clinical trials are not far away?"
Dean Liu nodded meaningfully: "It's coming soon. I believe we will all see this miracle happen to patients in the near future."
The reporter stayed for another two or three hours, interviewing the inside and outside of the animal experiment center, and then left with satisfaction.
They also followed the arrangements from above and made a series of follow-up reports on the new achievements of Sanqing.
However, before coming, everyone thought it was a fantasy, but after coming, they became fanatical believers in science.
The only regret is that I did not interview the scientific researchers of Sanqing, especially the two persons in charge who personally developed this result.
It is said that the two big guys are busy improving the technology and preparing for human clinical trials and have no time to be interviewed.
They could only run to the animal experiment center to interview the surviving animals. At the same time, they also caught the person involved, Dean Liu, and asked about the detailed experimental conditions.
Of course, the specific technical details and experimental data cannot be disclosed, but with the pictures of these monkeys jumping around and the basic scientific theory, it is enough for reporters to produce a news report that makes people confused.
After the interview, the reporter gave full play to his rich imagination and wrote a news report, accompanied by the interview video, and published it immediately.
