New hope for clinical blood transfusion: xenotransfusion based on gene-edited pigs

Abstract

Although blood banks based on human blood can provide blood transfusions for the wounded timely and effectively, scientific research has never given up on finding new blood sources due to the restrictions of human blood sources. With the application of transgenic technology and the successful breeding of gene-edited pigs, gene-edited pig blood as a potential source of clinical transfusion has attracted wide attention. Now there are preclinical studies showing the feasibility of transfusing gene-edited pig red blood cells into primates. This paper discusses the related research and future development of xenogeneic transfusion of porcine red blood cells by gene editing.

Keywords

• xenotransfusion
• genetically modified pigs
• immunological rejection
• porcine red blood cells