Resources will be used to fund the installation of biosafety level two – NB2 – for raising pigs in adequate sanitary conditions for the production of compatible organs for transplantation into humans.
The University of São Paulo (USP) and the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI) signed a letter of support that foresees investments of around R$ 10 million in research for the development of compatible organs for transplantation, the so-called xenotransplantation.
Resources from USP and MCTI (each institution will invest R$ 5 million in the project) will be used to fund pig facility activities – a biosafety level two installation – NB2 – for raising pigs in adequate sanitary conditions for the production of compatible organs for human transplantation.
The USP initiative is the only one in Latin America focused on research into the production of organs in animals for transplantation into humans. The project is coordinated by Professor Emeritus of the Faculdade de Medicina (FM) at USP, Silvano Mario Attilio Raia, a pioneer in organ transplantation in the country.
For five years, Raia, together with the Professor of the Institute of Biosciences (IB) at USP, Mayana Zatz, has been coordinating a project that aims to genetically modify pigs to become organ donors: kidney, heart, skin and cornea. The genetic editing phase has already been completed, which allows the production of the first modified embryos, which will be transferred to wild progenitors, producing the first donors.
“Xenotransplantation is a breakthrough. In the last 20 years, two million transplants were performed worldwide. There was an increase in demand, but there was no proportional increase in the availability of organs. So, there is a repressed demand, many die waiting for organs and pigs have proved to be the most adequate substitutes”, said Raia, during the document signing ceremony held in FMUSP’s Congregation Room.
According to the professor, the resources will allow the construction of FMUSP’s bioterium within six months for the beginning of pre-clinical experiments. “It's an unfolding world. At USP, we are carrying out research at the frontier of knowledge”, he highlighted.
The Secretary of Research and Scientific Training of the MCTI, Marcelo Marcos Morales, stressed that “xenotransplantation presents itself as a promising alternative to face this challenge, which causes suffering for patients and their families, in addition to significant expenses for Brazil’s public health care system (SUS)”.
University of São Paulo’s Rector, Carlos Gilberto Carlotti Junior, said that “a project like this will trigger not only the transplant itself, but also a series of knowledge that will be generated from it. It will certainly have a great impact on other areas of research”.
Also participating in the event were the director of FMUSP, Prof. Tarcisio Eloy Pessoa de Barros Filho; the State 's Secretary of Health, Jean Gorinchteyn; and the Vice-Director of IB-USP, Oswaldo Keith Okamoto. The Director of Institutional Cooperation of the National Council for Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq), Maria Zaira Turchi, participated in the ceremony via videoconference directly from Brasília.
