Flush with $17 million in recent funding, a team of xenotransplant researchers from London, Ont., is seeking new ways to modify pig organs genetically for grafting into humans and to induce tolerance in the immune systems of recipients. Few areas of research are as controversial, because many people are concerned about the potential for cross-species transfer of pathogens.
The London Transplant Research Team's 2-pronged approach to the problem of cross-species rejection is rapidly establishing the Southwestern Ontario city as a major centre for xenotransplant research. Earlier this month, the Ontario Government announced $5.7 million in funding from the Ontario Research and Development Challenge Fund. This added to previous commitments from the John P. Robarts Research Institute and private-sector partners. The team is a partnership of the London Health Sciences Centre (LHSC), the Robarts Research Institute, the University of Western Ontario and 6 companies.
Xenotransplantation "has the potential to relegate kidney dialysis machines to the museum, where they will collect dust with iron-lung machines," said Dr. William Wall, director of the LHSC's transplant program (www.lhsc.on.ca/transplant/). The London team hopes to attract 15 clinical fellows and 70 graduate students to work on the program. It is also seeking applicants for a new chair in xenotransplantation. Jim Wilson, Ontario's minister of energy, science and technology, expressed hope that the London project "might even repatriate people who have gone to the US for work."
Dr. Robert Zhong, director of experimental surgery at the UWO and president of the International Society for Experimental Microsurgery, told CMAJ that transplants of porcine organs into humans are at least 2 years away in London. He wants to see an 80% survival rate over 6 months in pig-to-baboon trials before further experimentation on humans. London currently holds the record for survival of pig-to-baboon kidney grafts - 40 days.