They perform the first transplant of genetically modified human kidneys into pigs

BarcelonaScientists around the world have spent years developing organs in the laboratory from stem cells to study how they form and function, and to test new drugs. These are called organoids, as they are not complete organs, but they do manage to reproduce many of their main structures and functions, making them an indispensable tool for research. In the future, for example, they could be used to repair damaged tissues or improve organs before transplantation, thus reducing the likelihood of rejection by the recipient's immune system. But much more research is needed to reach this point. Now, an international team led by the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) has taken a significant step in this direction and, for the first time, has developed human kidneys in a laboratory. They have combined them with those of a pig They removed the tissue from the animal and transplanted it again, without damage or toxicity.

This is the result of a study published in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering The research, which also involved the Biomedical Research Institute of A Coruña (INIBIC), the National Transplant Organization (ONT), and other international research groups, was led by Núria Montserrat, a researcher at IBEC and current Minister of Research and Universities for the Valencian Government. For the first time, researchers have successfully combined human kidney organoids with porcine kidneys using machines typically used in operating rooms to keep the organ alive and oxygenated outside the body before transplantation. Montserrat believes that combining organoids with this technology will, in the future, allow for the regeneration or repair of an organ before transplantation. "This could reduce waiting times for chronic patients and increase the number of viable organs for transplantation," she explains.

More organs available

Furthermore, the researchers observed that, 24 and 48 hours after transplantation, the human organoids remained integrated into the porcine kidney tissue, maintained their viability, and did not trigger any significant immune response. The transplanted kidney continued to function normally with no signs of damage detected. Until now, one of the major challenges has been to produce organoids in a scalable, uniform, and affordable manner, and this study describes, for the first time, a systematic and scalable method for producing organoids. "We can generate thousands of kidney organoids under controlled conditions and in a short time, with high precision and without the need for complex components, which opens the door to applications such as drug screening or disease research," explains Elena Garreta, a researcher at IBEC. The study points toward a possible future clinical scenario in which organs intended for transplantation can be treated and conditioned before implantation, and collaboration is underway with other institutions to translate the research into a realistic, preclinical surgical environment. In the long run, experts believe their discoveries could reduce the need for transplants and increase the availability of viable organs for clinical use, although much more research is needed before the first human applications.