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Article Source: the Mail onlinePig lungs could be transplanted into humans to overcome a shortage of donor organs after a medical breakthrough.
Australian scientists have paved the way for animal-human transplants in as little as five years, after keeping pig lungs alive and functioning with human blood.
The breakthrough came after scientists at Melbourne's St Vincent's Hospital were able to remove a section of pig DNA called the Gal gene, which made the pig organs incompatible with human blood.
Prof Tony D'Apice - who has been breeding pigs for possible transplants since 1989 - said human DNA was added to the engineered animals to control blood clotting and rejection in humans.
Dr Glenn Westall, from the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne, said the world-first discovery meant pig-human lung transplants were a real prospect.
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