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David Ayares, Revivicor’s president and chief scientific officer, holds a piglet raised for research on his farm in Montgomery County, Virginia.
NPR’s Scott P. Yates
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NPR’s Scott P. Yates
David Ayares, Revivicor’s president and chief scientific officer, holds a piglet raised for research on his farm in Montgomery County, Virginia.
NPR’s Scott P. Yates
Near Blacksburg, Virginia — On a crisp, sunny winter day, I drove down a winding two-lane road in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains in southwestern Virginia and onto an unmarked gravel road.
At the end of the drive I met David Ayales running. Rivi Victor Inc. is a biotechnology company based in Blacksburg, Virginia.
Mr. Ayales invited me to be the first journalist to tour the company’s research farm. The research farm is at the forefront of realizing the long-held goal of using cloned livestock to donate kidneys, hearts, livers and other organs, saving thousands of lives. Those who need a transplant.
“It’s exciting. We’ve been working on this for over 20 years, and this is no longer a science fiction experiment,” Ayares says. “It’s actually real.”
experiment keep the promise of Alleviate the chronic shortage of organs for transplantation. But the study also raises concerns about the ethics of using livestock as organs and the risk of spreading animal viruses to people.
secret farm for research
Ayales has asked me not to reveal the exact location of Rivivika’s farm due to safety concerns. He took me up the hill and gave me an overview of the facility.
“We are surveying 22 buildings and about 300 pigs, all for research purposes,” he says, looking out over the cluster of yellow one-story rectangular modular buildings below. Ta.
Ayales then took me to one of the buildings to change into hospital scrubs.
“This is a barrier facility, so we’re trying to protect the pigs, not ourselves,” Ayales said, adding that wearing sterile clothing is a step the company takes to prevent visitors from transmitting pathogens to the pigs. He explained that this is just one of the precautionary measures being taken.
At Rebuyker Farm in Montgomery County, Virginia, pigs kept for organ research are housed in metal barns.
NPR’s Scott P. Yates
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At Rebuyker Farm in Montgomery County, Virginia, pigs kept for organ research are housed in metal barns.
NPR’s Scott P. Yates
After changing, we climb into the truck, drive through what appears to be an outdoor single-car wash to disinfect the inside, and pass through a locked security gate surrounded by a tall chain-link fence.
We pass through a metal tub filled with disinfectant solution to sterilize our boots and enter another building.
Once inside, you can hear the snorting, growling, and shrieking sounds of pigs and piglets. Seven adult females were found in separate cages. Four of the pigs are pregnant with embryos from genetically modified cloned pigs. Her remaining three piglets are suckled by modified piglets.
“This is a farrowing facility where newborn piglets are born,” Ayares said. “All these piglets are genetically modified.”
How pig genes are modified in the lab
Earlier in the day, Ayales took me around Livivicore’s research lab in Blacksburg and showed me how the company creates genetically engineered cloned animals.
Inside a brick and glass building in a business district, scientists first use the latest genetic engineering techniques to edit the DNA of pig skin cells. Scientists then employ techniques similar to those used to create the first cloned mammals. dolly the sheep — to create cloned pig embryos. (Revivicor created the world’s first cloned pig.)
Todd Vogt, lead nuclear transfer scientist, manipulates eggs under a microscope in the Revivicor lab.
NPR’s Scott P. Yates
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Todd Vogt, lead nuclear transfer scientist, manipulates eggs under a microscope in the Revivicor lab.
NPR’s Scott P. Yates
During my visit, four scientists systematically removed most of the genes from hundreds of pig eggs. They do it by carefully puncturing the egg with a small pipette under a microscope and sucking out the DNA. Later that day, the scientists injected the edited pig skin cells inside the egg’s outer membrane. Finally, the scientists apply two electric shocks to the combination of cells, causing the edited cells to fuse with the empty egg and begin dividing, creating an embryo.
The resulting embryos are surgically implanted into the uterus of an adult sow. After four months, the cloned piglets will be born with 10 genetic modifications designed to ensure that their organs do not grow too large, cause complications such as blood clots, and are not rejected by the human immune system.
back to the farm
“Every cell in this animal’s body has the same genetic modification, and when we procure organs from it, like all other cells, we have the same genetic modifications that are desirable to be used in organ transplants. They have been genetically modified,” Ayales says at the farm. . “Their hearts, kidneys, lungs and livers have all undergone 10 genetic modifications that make them suitable for transplantation.”
Some other companies include egenesis Researchers in Cambridge, Massachusetts, are working on a similar study. eGenesis is further genetically modifying animal organs in hopes of making them suitable for transplantation.
Ayares asks if he would like to hold one of Livi Victor’s cloned piglets.
“These pigs are bred to be muscular and very efficient, so you’ll be surprised at how dense they are,” he said, handing me one.
I try to comfort the screaming and struggling piglet in my arms. He feels very solid, but at the same time soft. After a few minutes, I return the 3-week-old piglet to its mother and continue nursing with her littermates.
Genetically modified young pigs raised at Livivicoa Farm for organ transplant research.
NPR’s Scott P. Yates
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Genetically modified young pigs raised at Livivicoa Farm for organ transplant research.
NPR’s Scott P. Yates
Next, Ms. Ayales takes me to an adjacent nursery where the piglets are transferred when they are old enough to be separated from their mothers. Dozens of piglets sniff, sleep and play.
“They have a toy that they hang. They have a ball that they like to play with. Some of them even play soccer with each other sometimes. You can roll the ball to them. They roll it back to you. They’re very gentle, “smart, interactive animals,” Ayales said.
Each has its own unique personality, Ayales added.
“Some are grumpy, while others are very friendly. Some like to be scratched behind the ears, others like to be scratched on the back or tail,” he says.
With a network of farms, it is possible to supply organs nationwide.
Once the pigs are old enough, the clones can be crossed with other clones to produce more litters of similarly modified animals, and when they are almost a year old, they can be used for research or to donate organs for transplantation. can be sacrificed to.
“These litters allow us to obtain multiple organs. For example, we can obtain two kidneys and one heart from one animal. Our ultimate goal is to “It’s about getting all the organs you need for human transplantation from animals,” he says.
A piglet suckles in a pen at the Revivicor research farm.
NPR’s Scott P. Yates
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NPR’s Scott P. Yates
A piglet suckles in a pen at the Revivicor research farm.
NPR’s Scott P. Yates
Over 100,000 people are participating Transplant waiting list in the United StatesAnd because there aren’t enough human organs available, about 17 people a day die without organs available.
So Ayales envisions a day in the not-too-distant future when RiviVictor will be operating commercial farms across the country to breed these modified cloned pigs for desperate organ transplant recipients.
“There will be multiple facilities next to each other to produce enough organs for transplants,” he says.
Subsidiary of Revivicor United Therapeutics, Inc.is already building a larger, safer farm nearby to produce research pigs that the company hopes to begin using on humans soon. Revivicor hopes this will provide data for the modified pig organ to be approved by the Food and Drug Administration.
Ethical concerns temper hopes
But some people are concerned about the prospect of using animal organs for human transplants.
“The risks from the introduction of new mutated viruses that can infect humans could be truly catastrophic,” he said. L. Sid Johnsona bioethicist at SUNY Upstate Medical University in Syracuse, New York.
In addition to the potential risks to humans, Johnson and his colleagues also note that thousands of pigs are created, bred, and sacrificed each year to harvest genetically engineered organs for transplantation into humans. I have doubts.
“They’re being treated like machines whose only purpose is to be taken apart to provide spare parts for humans,” Johnson said. “I think the arrogance of this kind of human intervention, and the fundamental exploitation of human-created anima for the purposes of their creation, really needs to stop.”
But Ayales said the company treats the animals humanely and takes special measures to ensure all animals are disease-free. And he points out that Americans sacrifice millions of pigs for food each year.
Revivicor’s David Ayares acknowledged concerns about breeding pigs to provide organs for transplants, but said this was a “higher purpose” than consuming pigs for food. ing.
NPR’s Scott P. Yates
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NPR’s Scott P. Yates
Revivicor’s David Ayares acknowledged concerns about breeding pigs to provide organs for transplants, but said this was a “higher purpose” than consuming pigs for food. ing.
NPR’s Scott P. Yates
“These pigs are cloned and bred for the higher purpose of providing organs for transplantation,” he says. “I think that’s probably a higher goal than using them for meat. These pigs have an opportunity to transform healthcare and save many lives.”
To gain FDA approval to begin formal research on humans on the organ waiting list, RiviVictor is first studying pig organs inside the bodies of baboons and people declared brain dead.
Revivicor has so far sponsored eight such “mortality” surgeries, including on the heart and kidneys. New York University Langone Health new york and University of Alabama at Birmingham. More tests are planned as more donors are found.
Liver treatment using cloned and modified eGenesis animals recently announced at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Researchers say the liver could be used as a temporary bridge for human organ transplants.
In addition, our surgeons University of Maryland, Baltimore transplants gene-edited pig hearts Two men who have no other choice. These volunteers lived only a few weeks. But Ayares said the men provided valuable information about using organs from genetically engineered cloned pigs in humans. For example, researchers found evidence of a swine virus in one of the heart recipients, prompting Revivicor to add additional testing to ensure the animal was free from that risk.
“We’re trying to solve the organ shortage crisis,” Ayares said. “These people are heroes.”
