[Reading Science] Life-Saving Pigs, 200 Million Won Per Pig?

Genetically modified pigs are said to be worth 200 million won each.
[Photo by YouTube screen capture]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] Have you heard of a pig more expensive than a cow? A 500kg Hanwoo (Korean native cattle) can cost between 6 million to 10 million KRW depending on the quality of the meat.

However, a single pig can cost over 200 million KRW. What kind of pig could be so expensive? This is not referring to a pig in a piece of artwork. It is definitely a pig raised for sale, but its price is said to be at least 100 million to 200 million KRW. What kind of pig is this?

It is a genetically modified pig. The reason genetically modified pigs are so expensive is that they are bred by altering their genes for the purpose of xenotransplantation. Pigs have organs similar in size to humans, have a shorter breeding period compared to primates, and require less cost to raise, making mass production possible and useful in many ways.

However, pig organs cannot be transplanted into humans. When pig organs are transplanted into primates, immune rejection occurs just like with other xenogeneic organs. The component called 'alpha-gal (alpha 1,3-galactose)' on the surface of pig organs triggers a severe immune rejection response, which leads to the death of the primate receiving the organ.

Genetically modified pigs are created by using gene editing technology to remove alpha-gal from the pig’s body, then cloning the modified embryos and implanting them into surrogate sows. These pigs are raised at the National Institute of Animal Science, and the price of one pig is said to be at least 100 million to 200 million KRW. Why is so much effort put into breeding genetically modified pigs?

Human organs cannot be replaced with organs from other animals like replacing a broken car part with a new one. Only human organs can be used for replacement (allogeneic transplantation).

According to the Organ Transplant Management Center of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, as of May 31 last year, there were 38,005 people waiting for organ transplants in South Korea. Because donors are insufficient compared to the demand for organs, only about 12% of these waiting patients can receive transplants. Even those patients had to wait about 3 years and 3 months before receiving a transplant.

The remaining 88% of waiting patients face the harsh reality of dying while waiting for a transplant. Given this reality, scientists have been researching xenotransplantation using pigs, which have organs most similar to humans.

A monkey (left in the photo) that received a pig organ transplant and a genetically modified pig.
[Photo by YouTube screenshot]

In 2018, a research team at the University of Munich in Germany succeeded in transplanting a pig heart into a baboon. Although previous transplants were successful, the baboons did not survive beyond two months. Among the baboons that received pig hearts from the Munich team, one survived for as long as 195 days, marking a remarkable achievement.

In South Korea, research on producing transplantable organs by inserting human induced pluripotent stem cells into pigs is showing promising results. Konkuk University’s 'Humanized Pig Research Center' succeeded in injecting human induced pluripotent stem cells into embryos of immunodeficient pigs and then implanting those embryos into surrogate sows. If the pig born from the surrogate has immune cells, it means the pig has a human immune system derived from the induced pluripotent stem cells.

A joint research team from Chungbuk National University College of Veterinary Medicine and Busan Lotte Animal Hospital transplanted pig respiratory tissue into dogs and kept them alive for three months. The team transplanted pig respiratory tissue into three dogs and observed them for 90 days; all three survived during the experiment, and bronchoscopic examination showed no stenosis.

Although these are animals other than humans, the possibility of successful xenotransplantation has been found through genetic modification. The ultimate goal of these studies is to successfully establish the immune system when organs taken from immunodeficient pigs are transplanted into humans. Since no eggs are used, this research does not violate current bioethics laws, so there are no legal obstacles to the research.

However, selling these precious genetically modified pigs as pets seems controversial. In September last year, China’s Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI) announced plans to sell genetically modified 'mini pigs' that grow only up to 15kg, which had been used for research, as pets.

BGI went further, revealing plans to produce and sell pet mini pigs with fur colors and patterns desired by consumers through genetic modification. The official price announced by the institute for these pigs is 10,000 yuan (about 1.68 million KRW). Beyond bioethics, is it appropriate to commercially use genetically modified pigs?

Genetically modified pigs raised for xenotransplantation are strictly managed for hygiene.
[Photo by YouTube screenshot]

In South Korea, expensive genetically modified pigs costing 100 million to 200 million KRW each are raised under strict hygiene management for research purposes, while China is producing mini pigs that can be popular as pets and selling them on the market. Economically, China seems to have the advantage. But can we say that is right? The human nature of treating life as a commodity is both astonishing and frightening.

Anyway, technology has advanced this far. Although there have been multiple reports about clinical trials on humans, no results have been announced yet. It is presumed that the results are not positive. Accepting painful outcomes is necessary to move to the next stage. It will be a mountain to overcome.

I hope more people will appreciate the sacrifice of pigs. I wish that feeling could be conveyed to the genetically modified pigs. I sincerely pray that people who die waiting for organ transplants will disappear.