Latest news with #xenotransplantation
CNN
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
The Man with the Pig Kidney - Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta - Podcast on CNN Podcasts
Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:00:08 On January 25th, 2025 Tim Andrews became a medical pioneer. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:00:17 He received a pig kidney transplant. Now, while he was not the first, he does hope that his and the contributions of many others means that he also won't be the last. Tim Andrews 00:00:29 Stepping forward, you're gonna do something for humanity. This is a way that we can bring this forward. And this is the hope for all these people that it's gonna be okay. We're gonna find a way. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:00:45 It's been an incredible journey of an incredible man and an incredible scientific achievement. And this may only be the beginning. I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and this is part two of Animal Farm. It's been just seven days since Tim Andrews received a pig kidney. Tim Andrews 00:01:10 I'm a crier. They all know it. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:01:12 He's understandably emotional. Once tethered to a dialysis machine for survival, Tim is now free. Tim Andrews 00:01:19 Oh, it's nice Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:01:25 There's that great shot of you as you're walking out of the hospital and you're fresh air in it. It almost seemed like you were breathing air for the first time. Tim Andrews 00:01:34 Yeah, it kind of felt like it had been a long time since I had been outside, really. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:01:43 And by leaving the hospital so soon, Tim was making history. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:01:47 You wanted to get out as quickly as possible. Yes. And you wanted to be Towana Tim Andrews 00:01:53 Yeah Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:02:00 'Tawana is Towana Looney, a 53-year-old Alabama grandmother who underwent a pig kidney transplant two months earlier. So how you feeling? Dr. Robert Montgomery was her surgeon. Towana Looney 00:02:12 You know what the first thing I'm gonna do when I get home? What's that? Cook me some greens. Some greens? Like your wife sent me. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:02:21 She had been on dialysis for nine years, waiting for an organ transplant. Dr. Robert Mongtomery 00:02:25 If you're on dialysis for five years, you have a 50% mortality. You start going beyond that and your likelihood of living gets less and less. Alright, and the kidney is right inside this bag. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:02:41 Towana volunteered for a Xenotransplant. Dr. Robert Mongtomery 00:02:45 It was exciting. She wants to start a revolution, too, herself. I mean, she really believes in this. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:02:52 So much so that Towana helped make Tim Andrews a believer as well. Because along the way, when Tim had had his doubts, he called the only living person in the world who had gone through this. Tim Andrews 00:03:04 Hearing her saying, you know, just trust God, just trust God. It'll be okay. That made me feel easier. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:03:15 It has now been 60 days since his transplant, and Tim is settling back into life in Concord, New Hampshire. Today, we decided to bundle up and go for a walk. It's interesting because you say you feel better. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:03:28 No question about it, right? Tim Andrews 00:03:29 Absolutely no question about it. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:03:31 What does that mean exactly? What feels better? Tim Andrews 00:03:35 Energy. I have energy. Whoop. I'm a little wobbly though. Ha ha ha ha. We got you. But I feel so much better and clearer. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:03:49 None of this is easy. Taking 20 milligrams, they're fives. I mean, every day Tim sits at this makeshift mountain of medication guided by this big binder. It's a survival Bible of sorts. Tim Andrews 00:04:01 This is the book. Tells you what you're gonna take. We keep it in pencil because it changes a lot. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:04:09 Another reminder of how new this all is, there is a lot of experimentation with the right mix of meds and doses. In all, Tim takes 52 pills a day. Tim Andrews 00:04:19 And this is when it helps to be a 70s child. Ready? Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:04:25 'And several times a week an anti-rejection infusion directly into his blood. We were there for his two-month checkup as he had a battery of tests to look for any signs of infection, rejection, or reduced function. Doctor 00:04:45 We can actually identify if there's any issues with the kidney. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:04:49 'Worried about Tim's heart, the Boston medical team is also monitoring him 24-7 with this implanted loop recorder. It measures Tim's cardiac rhythm and warns of any potential abnormalities. Doctor 00:05:01 We're of course being just extra careful and cautious and ensuring things are in the right direction. Tim Andrews 00:05:08 And the little pig is right there so I can pat it. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:05:11 Today's visit is all about this moment. Observing this ultrasound, that is an ultrasound of a pig kidney inside Tim. Something that very few people ever get to see. Dr. Leonardo Riella 00:05:21 And it looks exactly like a human kidney, so let me see all the blood flow throughout. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:05:27 Is there anything in there that makes. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:05:29 It clear that it's a pig kidney? Dr. Leonardo Riella 00:05:30 No, exactly like a human one. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:05:32 'And not only does it look like one, eight weeks post-operatively, it's acting like one. Dr. Leonardo Riella 00:05:37 But the level of kidney function is as good as we would expect from a human kidney transplant. We just are amazed every day we look at that blowwork. That's awesome good stuff, isn't it? Tim Andrews 00:05:49 No, no, no. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:05:51 Now there is one complication they're watching for very carefully, something that is unique to xenotransplants and could affect not only Tim, but his wife Karen as well, maybe all of us. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:06:05 One of the concerns is that if there is some sort of weird or strange virus in the pig and it gets into the human population through one of these transplants, might not only affect the patient, but people around the patient as well. Dr. Leonardo Riella 00:06:16 In all the studies that we're doing, we're not only monitoring the patient, but their close contacts. Tim Andrews 00:06:22 Because we don't know to this day, and we won't know for the rest of my life whether that can happen. So that's always in the background. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:06:33 Talking to scientists, this is one of their biggest concerns, accidentally unleashing a pig virus onto a susceptible human population. To avoid that they screen extensively, they even edit the genome of the pigs to inactivate those viruses. But the question is is that enough? Art Kaplan 00:06:53 Genetic engineering is a nice tool, but it's not 100% accurate yet. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:06:58 'World-renowned medical ethicist, Art Kaplan. Is it a big enough concern to sort of derail? Art Kaplan 00:07:04 No, I don't think so. I think it's a reason to be cautious, to really detect a problem early and then be able to shut it down or respond. Kathy Guillermo 00:07:14 I think it's a little bit of Russian roulette here. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:07:17 Kathy Guillermo is the Senior VP at PETA, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, and she thinks this is a big issue. Kathy Guillermo 00:07:25 I think when it comes to viruses and animals, there's so much that we don't know. There are people who, in addition to PETA, are opposed to these experiments for that reason. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:07:34 Now to be clear, there is nothing about xenotransplants that sits well with Kathy or anyone else at PETA. Kathy Guillermo 00:07:41 I don't think it could ever be okay to use an animal as a source of spare parts. For that animal, this is a life of deprivation. It's an early death. It's much suffering. And I don't think that's ever okay. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:07:56 Even if it means a choice between a pig life or a human death. Kathy Guillermo 00:08:00 'This was a situation my father was presented with, and my father was over 80, so he was not eligible for a transplant. And my father did die of end-stage renal disease, and he would not have taken an organ from a pig for ethical reasons. Art Kaplan 00:08:14 I think what the mainstream position will become among those caring about animals, loving animals, is that we're gonna tolerate this, we're going to look for alternatives to it that they would find more acceptable. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:08:31 And then there are the religious concerns. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:08:33 You have certain religions, Muslim religion, Jewish religion, who they won't eat pork. They don't eat pigs. Is transplanting a pig organ different in some way than consuming? Art Kaplan 00:08:46 You know, eating it. It's somewhat contentious. I, however, don't think that you're gonna see huge religious opposition. But you may see in some of the Islamic countries is human organs first, only go to the animal last resort. I could see that. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:09:04 A spiritual man, Tim also had his concerns. It's why he reached out to his church for guidance. Tim Andrews 00:09:10 I contacted the bishop and then the Vatican sent me a paper. They were working animals who were put on earth. God put them on the earth to serve us. And if they're service extends life and makes a better life, so be it. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:09:30 So will these new kidneys create a better and longer life? You look really good when we come back. This is the future of transplantation, a heart, a liver, a kidney. These are organs that are grown, not in the body, but in the lab. David Ayeres 00:10:04 They're using a pig organ scaffold and resellularizing that with human cells. Also another group is 3D printing that scaffold, resellicularizing that with human cell, so multiple ways to generate a humanized organ for overcoming the shortage. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:10:22 The potential? Organs on demand. Could you get to the point where you could create a personalized organ for somebody? David Ayeres 00:10:30 Absolutely. Dr. Robert Mongtomery 00:10:31 I think that's gonna be the future. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:10:34 So an organ that would be designed for Robert Montgomery. David Ayeres 00:10:37 Personalized organs where we don't have to use any immunosuppression. Somebody starts to develop kidney disease. We take some of their stem cells from a piece of skin or some blood and we start to grow them up and then seed that scaffolding with that person's stem cells that then grow and mature, and then you have a designer organ for that person when they need it. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:11:09 'Now to be clear, what he's describing is still years away, and that is why the focus is for now on these genetically modified pigs. Since the time we started investigating xenotransplantation about two years ago, things have taken off at a lightning pace, from compassionate use to a pilot study and now an FDA-approved clinical trial. Also, expect to see high-tech pig farms like these pop up in other places around the country and the world. David Ayeres 00:11:43 The next facility will be built, will have an output of about 6,000 organs per year, but that's still less than 10% of the demand for the unlimited supply of organs. Aaron Ortiz 00:11:55 This is a brand new building built specifically for human clinical trials. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:11:59 'Aaron Ortiz is in charge of scaling up United Therapeutics pig production. These are the highly specialized, designated pathogen-free buildings, DPF. They're built using FDA guidelines. It's what they call a bio-secure and pathogen free environment. This is not typical pig farm. Aaron Ortiz 00:12:18 Yeah, it looks like a biotech facility, to be honest, and the mechanics behind it. The pigs are drinking cleaner water than the employees that are working here, and they're breathing cleaner air here as well. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:12:29 And within this farm, there are also multiple sterile operating rooms. That's where transplant teams from around the country will come starting this summer to procure or harvest the organs. Aaron Ortiz 00:12:41 The reason we do the procurements here is to mitigate any variabilities that could occur during transport of the animal to the actual hospital site. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:12:49 So the concern was if you're actually moving the pig, that's a source of potential contamination. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:12:59 This is ultimately the biggest concern we heard from so many people that we interviewed for this documentary. They all ask, can the spread of disease from these pigs to humans really be controlled? And that is crucial, after all, to protect the population at large. Do you feel like at this point that is an achievable goal? Aaron Ortiz 00:13:24 We test them at day 30, we test them day 60, we test them a day 90, we tested quarterly. When they put into quarantine, if they're going for transplant, we will test them when they're in quarantine. And then we'll test the animal again, as we do the procurement of the organ. Make sure it's all straight. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:13:38 That's the sort of testing that was done on the pig kidney transplanted into Tijuana. And also on Raphael, Tim's kidney donor. Tim Andrews 00:13:48 That'll get everybody moving. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:13:51 A transplant that Tim is thankful for every day. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:13:56 Every Wednesday, he signs into this Zoom meeting from his kitchen table in New Hampshire. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:14:04 Hundreds of people from all over the country want to talk to him about his transplant. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:14:09 And that strikes me that you've done all this, but then you also take the time to do these calls. Tim Andrews 00:14:14 That was my promise. Give me this and I will spend the remainder of my life helping people get hope. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:14:26 It is the unspoken promise of pioneers. Pay it forward. Towana Looney 00:14:31 I want you to look at me. If I can do it, the next person can do it. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:14:41 Towana was the star at a recent medical conference, the Lake Nona Impact Forum. David Ayeres 00:14:46 The system will never be able to deliver enough organs. This is the promise for the future. And thank you for making that future happen. Towana Looney 00:14:58 You're welcome, thank you. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:15:00 'Mm-hmm. I was there and I can tell you the audience loved her. You look really good. You feel as good as you look? Towana Looney 00:15:10 Yeah, I do. Denyce Graves 00:15:11 My husband said, how do you feel about all this attention? She said, I love it. Towana Looney 00:15:17 I want the word to get out. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:15:21 But the thing about firsts, about pioneers, is that at any moment, their lives can be suddenly thrown into jeopardy. Tim Andrews 00:15:30 I woke up one morning and I was hurting so bad I couldn't walk or anything. And sure enough I had an infection. You can see the remains of it there. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:15:44 Tim was hospitalized for three weeks to treat the infection and prevent his kidney from being rejected. Dr. Leonardo Riella 00:15:50 It was a quite hard few days for him and for us as well, but fortunately we were able to overcome and we're in a better spot now. We hope this kidney continues for a long time. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:16:03 Turns out as Tim won his fight to keep his kidney, Towana lost hers. Like Tim, Tawanna got an infection, but she also started to reject her pig kidney. So in April, doctors had to remove it. Towona is back on dialysis. It had been 130 days. At the time, she was the longest survivor with a xenotransplant in history. But now soon, that distinction could belong to Tim. Tim Andrews 00:16:35 I don't want people to look at that and say, well, that's it, it didn't work. It worked. It just wasn't perfected yet. We're gonna have to get there Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:16:49 Science is like life. There are successes and there are failures, but you learn from both of them. Dr. Robert Mongtomery 00:16:57 We stand on the shoulders of giants for sure. It's extraordinary when you think about it. It took a lot of people doing their part to make this happen. Dr. Leonardo Riella 00:17:09 I think patients like Tim will be remembered as heroes. Tim Andrews 00:17:15 What this pig kidney has given me is freedom from this. And what I hope it gives you is hope. Don't give up. I see way too many people give up. Don't give up. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:17:34 Tim's future looks bright, and so does the future of this area of medicine. When do you think this might be available to the average persom? Dr. Robert Mongtomery 00:17:45 I think less than five years. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:17:51 Do you imagine the future now? Tim Andrews 00:17:53 Yeah, I do. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:17:55 Visiting grandkids. Tim Andrews 00:17:56 Visiting grandkids is going to be so much fun, you know, because they saw me at the lowest and now they'll be able to see me alive and laughing and carrying on like Grandpa does. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:18:11 That's great. Tim Andrews 00:18:12 It's gonna be awesome. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:18:16 On June 5, Tim Andrews became the longest living human with a pig kidney transplant. It's even given him the chance to fulfill a lifelong dream. Tim Andrews 00:18:26 Well, I knew it was about that ball was going to go. Ha ha ha ha! Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:18:30 Which was throwing out the first pitch for his favorite team, the Boston Red Sox. And more importantly, finally getting to see his grandkids again. Tim Andrews, we all wish you well. Dr. Sanjay Gupta reports Animal Farm is now available to stream on HBO Max. We'll be back next week with a new episode of Chasing Life. Thanks for listening.
CNN
24-06-2025
- Health
- CNN
How Far Are We from Animal Organs Saving Lives? - Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta - Podcast on CNN Audio
Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:00:03 'Welcome to Paging Dr. Gupta. This is one of my favorite parts of the week, because I get a chance to connect with you, to answer your questions, and to hear what's on your mind. I also often get to talk about some of the big medical developments that are shaping our lives. If you caught last week's episode, for example, you know that we've been diving into something that sounds very much like science fiction, but at the same time has become very real, quickly, xeno-transplantation, X-E-N-O, transplantation. That is the medical term for transplanting organs from one species into another. In this case, specifically from animals into humans. Even more specifically, from pigs into people. Now, I'm so fascinated by this. I spent two years working on a documentary and we covered everything from the special pig farms to operating rooms. Scientists, surgeons, and patients who are making this happen. I spent a lot of time with all of them. Today, I'm really excited to keep the conversation going by answering the many questions you guys sent in. So let's get into it. Kyra's back with us. What do we have, Kyra? What's up first? Kyra Dahring 00:01:20 Yeah, so Paul wrote in wondering something pretty fascinating about personalized organs, and I'm gonna read it to you. So he wrote: over the past two decades, work was happening in the area of using one's cell makeup to create an organ in the lab. Is this still an approach being considered? Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:01:37 Okay, Paul, this is a great question. And the answer is yes. There is work that is being done in this particular space of creating basically individualized organs. One of the efforts of a company known as United Therapeutics, they work in the xenotransplant area, one of their efforts is also in creating what can best be called ghost organs. And we got a chance to see this. So imagine this, okay, so you have a pig organ, maybe a pig heart in this case, and it essentially is cleansed using these detergents of all of its biology, of all its cells. The only thing left is the scaffolding of the organ, okay? And then that scaffolding is essentially repopulated, reseeded with human cells, a specific human cells. Now, if you think about that, that essentially now is a personalized organ for somebody. This approach, this idea of creating ghost organs, is still further off than where we are currently with xenotransplantation. But I think to your question, this is the future. These ghost organs that are repopulated with an individual's human cells to create a personalized organ, that may be what we can expect in the future, so for example, let's say you have cardiac disease or you have some sort of disease where you know you're gonna need a transplant in the feature. You could potentially create a personalized organ that would be ready to go when you need it. Before your condition gets too far along, scientists could take some of your cells, simply from your blood or your skin, grow those cells, and then use them to populate the ghost organ scaffolding. Not only do you have an organ designed for you, but because they are your cells immunosuppression, rejection, acceptance, that shouldn't be an issue. It is essentially your organ. Now stick around, after the break we're going to get into just how many of these pig kidneys have actually made it into humans, and the bigger question, could this really solve the organ shortage crisis? Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:03:54 Okay, we're gonna try and get to as many pages as possible. Kyra, what do we have next? Kyra Dahring 00:03:59 'Next is Ann from Kansas, and she wants to know, you know, how many pig kidney transplants have been done? Whether anyone's lived long-term with them? And if they use different anti-rejection meds than the typical transplant. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:04:14 'All right, first of all, how many kidney xenotransplants? Four in two living patients. And the reason I say living patients is because the first couple of transplants were actually done into patients who were brain dead. These were patients who had signed up to be organ donors, but instead in a way they became organ recipients when they were brain-dead. It was an opportunity for scientists to try and study, could these pig organs actually survive in the human body and they found that it worked. So in March of 2024, the first patient, a guy named Rick Slayman at Massachusetts General Hospital got a transplant, a xenotransplant, and he lived for two additional months. In April 2024, a month later, Lisa Pisano got a transplant, lived for a two additional month. A few months later, November of 2024 the third patient, Towana Looney at NYU got a pig kidney. She is still alive, but had to have the pig kidney removed after 130 days because of an unrelated infection. And then in January of 2025, this year, Tim Andrews, the fourth patient, he still has his xenotransplant and soon is gonna surpass 130 days, becoming the longest survivor in the world with a xenotransplant. Now, in addition to the four xeno kidney transplants, there have been two pig heart transplants as well, both at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. January of 2022, David Bennett lived for two additional months. September of 2023, Larry Faucette lived for an additional six weeks. Now, I just wanted to name everybody there because all the folks I just mentioned are pioneers. They volunteered, they put their hands up to do something that had never been done before. And they really sort of ventured out into the unknown. Very, very brave. And as a result of their efforts, they have really advanced science. That's why I wanted to give you all their names. Now, with regard to the second part of your question, the immunosuppression or the anti-rejection medications are very similar to what a human-to-human transplant would take, but typically at higher doses. So similar meds, but higher doses of the meds. And typically a few other drugs that have been added into the regimen, which have been shown to be effective so far in these early studies. The key to the success though, make no mistake, is the engineering of the pig's DNA to make it more similar to a human's. In some cases, there were some genes that were removed. In other cases, certain trans genes were added. So human genes actually added into pig's genome. All right, Kyra, what's our last question? Kyra Dahring 00:07:08 All right, Sanjay, we're wrapping up with one from Alia in Kuwait. She's asking a pretty big picture question: how far are we from this being a solution to the organ crisis? Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:07:19 Well, Alia, first of all, thanks for calling us from Kuwait. Five years. Five years is the number that I was given over and over again. Kidneys, in part, are going to be the first organs to really get to scale, but it sounds like they're also going to get to hearts, livers, and possibly lungs. We're about to enter clinical trials this summer with United Therapeutics, and we had a chance to visit the farm where they're raising the pigs for the trials. These are biosecure farms, look nothing like a typical farm. They have these filters and clean water and air. In some ways the food and the water and the air that the pigs are getting is even cleaner than what the humans are getting that work there. They have a high level of security. They have their operating rooms right there on campus. So they take the organs there and then send the organs directly to recipients around the country. I don't know, Alia, that I would necessarily say that this is going to solve the organ shortage crisis, but I think it's going to be a very important stopgap. Keep in mind, some of these farms can raise thousands of pigs, and there's a few of these farms around the country, but there's 100,000 people on the waiting list for organs in the United States alone. 17 people who die waiting for an organ. So we're going to need hundreds of thousands of organs potentially to try and solve the organ shortage crisis. And then there are a lot of people who don't currently qualify for transplant, even though they probably should, they're just not sick enough. Then the question becomes, could these pig organs start to supply organs to those folks as well? It's a fascinating field. It combines so many different scientific developments. IVF, cloning, CRISPR gene editing, transplant immunology, transplant surgery. All these scientific developments, some of them Nobel Prize winning developments, came together to create this field of xenotransplantation and potentially save and extend a lot of lives in the process. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:09:28 'Thanks for being so fascinated by this like I am and thank you for writing in your questions, sending in your question. I always love hearing what you're curious about. And if there's something else health related you've been wondering about, don't be shy, record a voice memo, email it to AskSanjay@ or give us a call, 470-396-0832, leave a message, and be sure to check out part two of our Chasing Life special on xenotransplantation. I'm gonna dive even deeper into what this breakthrough could mean for the future of medicine overall. The documentary is called Animal Pharm, P-H-A-R-M, and part two will be on the feed Friday. Thanks for listening, and I'll be back next Tuesday. Chasing Life is a production of CNN Audio. Our podcast is produced by Eryn Mathewson, Jennifer Lai, Grace Walker, Lori Galaretta, Jesse Remedios, Sofia Sanchez, Kyra Dahring, and Madeleine Thompson. Andrea Kane is our medical writer, our senior producer is Dan Bloom, Amanda Sealy is our showrunner, Dan Dzula is our technical director, and the executive producer of CNN Audio is Steve Lickteig. With support from Jamus Andrest, Jon Dianora, Haley Thomas, Alex Manasseri, Robert Mathers, Leni Steinhardt, Nichole Pesaru, and Lisa Namerow. Special thanks to Ben Tinker and Nadia Kounang of CNN Health and Wendy Brundige.
CNN
20-06-2025
- Health
- CNN
The Organ Transplant Revolution Starts Here - Chasing Life with Dr. Sanjay Gupta - Podcast on CNN Audio
Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:00:03 What you're about to hear is a story of history in the making. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:00:20 A medical first, a story of survival, bravery, and heroism. I'm not a hero. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:00:29 To try and solve a crisis. Taking the clamp off the artery. Nice and pink, yeah. You see, at any given moment, more than 100,000 people are waiting. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:00:56 And every day 17 people sadly will die. Speaker 2 00:01:00 For any organ that you name. Only 10% make it on the list. There's just not enough of. There's not enough. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:01:06 Now, the potential answer to this problem might sound crazy to many. Speaker 7 00:01:10 I have received a major, major, groundbreaking organ transplant. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:01:19 Controversial to some Speaker 7 00:01:21 for that animal. This is a life of deprivation. It's an early death. It is much suffering. I don't think that's ever okay. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:01:28 Even blasphemous to others. Speaker 5 00:01:30 Contacted the bishop and then the Vatican sent me a paper Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:01:34 But now, more than ever, it's also incredibly promising. Could animals be the answer? Is it right? Is it wrong? Can it even work? Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:01:49 That is an ultrasound with a pig kidney inside Tim, something that very few Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:01:54 people ever get to see. For the last two years, we've been searching for answers. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:02:01 It's powerful just to be here with these pigs. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:02:05 I'm Dr. Sanjay Gupta, and here is part one of Animal Farm. In the remote mountains of Patagonia, about as far from civilization as you can get, Robert Montgomery almost died. Robert Montgomery 00:02:22 I had a cardiac arrest and my son was doing CPR on me and they put me in the back of a truck and drove me to a hospital and they looked at me and said we can't take care of this. They brought an ambulance up and continued resuscitation and drove five hours to the closest hospital. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:02:47 I've heard a lot of extraordinary stories throughout my career, but just the idea, the cardiac arrest, and then your son doing chest compressions on you. Robert Montgomery 00:02:54 Yeah, he saved my life. When I woke up I couldn't do anything, I couldn't walk or talk. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:03:09 That he even survived. It really is just so extraordinary. But still, the underlying problem, something known as dilated cardiomyopathy, where the heart is just too weak to adequately pump blood, that was still with him, lurking, constantly threatening his life. Robert Montgomery 00:03:28 Father died at 52 from cardiomyopathy, the same disease that I had. Brother dropped dead at 35. Another brother got a heart transplant at 39. And then me. I basically accepted that I might not live a normal lifespan. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:03:51 Almost every single man in his family, sick or dying of this heart disease. Was it your father's doctor who said that transplantation really wasn't going to be a solution? Robert Montgomery 00:04:04 My mother was really begging him to come up with something, and he said, you know, he's too old and... Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:04:12 52 Robert Montgomery 00:04:13 52 and it doesn't work anyway, so you wouldn't want that. That was 1976 Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:04:20 Even though the first successful heart transplant was back in 1967 in South Africa, it would take decades for it to become widely available. Not in time for Dr. Montgomery's dad. And so Robert Montgomery was given a mission, become a transplant surgeon, and hopefully one day save people just like his dad. Robert Montgomery 00:04:43 Alright, how does that look with the camera? Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:04:45 'It wasn't easy. By age 56, he had had three near-catastrophic cardiac arrests himself. The only cure, he was told, was a heart transplant. Robert Montgomery 00:04:56 For any organ that you name, only 10% make it on the list. I wasn't sick enough to get on the lists. You have to get so sick before you would even qualify to be in the running to receive an organ. And it's just unacceptable. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:05:12 And that's all because we have to ration organs. There's just not enough of them. Robert Montgomery 00:05:17 There's just not enough. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:05:18 But then it was the summer of 2018 when Robert Montgomery suddenly became sick enough. Once again, he was overseas. This time it was Italy, with his wife Denise. Denise Montgomery 00:05:30 Have four heart attacks that Robert Montgomery 00:05:32 I just had one cardiac arrest after another. They gave me last rights. Denise Montgomery 00:05:39 They revived him. He said I will die if I don't get out of here. Robert Montgomery 00:05:43 They left my IVs underneath my shirt and they gave my friend a bundle of preloaded resuscitation drugs and syringes and flew back because I knew that was my ticket. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:05:58 The odds of survival were still not in his favor. Robert Montgomery 00:06:02 Hi sweetheart Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:06:03 'You see, even after making it on the list, 17 people die every day while waiting. Remarkably, just three weeks later, a heart became available. But it came with a catch. His donor had died of a heroin overdose, and the heart was infected with hepatitis C. In the transplant world, that is typically a no-go. In fact, thousands of hep C-infected organs are discarded every year. But Dr. Montgomery insisted that his doctors still give it to him. Robert Montgomery 00:06:35 We had just done a study showing that you could take a hepatitis C positive organ and put it into a hepatitis C negative recipient and treat them with these new antivirals. You could successfully treat the virus. Denise Montgomery 00:06:47 Robert wasn't worried, and so I was. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:06:52 It was a risk, transplanting an infected organ into someone who had his immune system suppressed. But you're probably starting to see a pattern here. Montgomery was once again willing to take the chance and prove that these infected hearts could be used safely. Robert Montgomery 00:07:09 Hello to all my friends. And it worked. Thank you for your kind thoughts and your prayers, and I'm making a very nice recovery. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:07:18 Within weeks, he was able to walk out of the hospital. Today, he wants to show me the place he comes to treat patients, just like him. Robert Montgomery 00:07:27 I was in this room right around the corner, so I have good feelings about this place actually. It's like hope. Yeah, it's hope. It represents hope. Behind that door, yeah. Denise Montgomery 00:07:37 He is a man on a mission. He wants to see this eradicated. Robert Montgomery 00:07:43 If this were like a cancer drug, we wouldn't allow something to be rationed like this, right? We just don't have any choice right now. So we need another choice. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:07:52 Another choice which Montgomery is now racing to find. Tim Andrews 00:07:57 I'll help you down. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:07:58 Another choice, hopefully, for this man. Tim Andrews has been living with diabetes since the 1990s, successfully managing it with insulin. Retired and happily married to his second wife, Karen, these empty nesters had big plans for their new life together, traveling the world, until one day in 2022. Tim Andrews 00:08:19 I got tired, I was like, oh my god, I'm gonna fall asleep or something. So I was checked and they said, oh yeah, stage three, kidney failure. Oh, okay. And a month later they're telling me, I am at end stage. Wow, just one month. Just one month, just quit on it. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:08:38 And what were you feeling like at that point? Tim Andrews 00:08:40 I mean, I was told, literally told, you have dialysis or you pick a box. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:08:50 It was a false choice, certain death or dialysis, meaning being dependent on a machine for the rest of his life. Tim Andrews 00:08:59 The first couple of months was like, hey, this is not gonna be so bad. As time went on, like six months in, I had a heart attack. It takes a toll on you emotionally and physically. Tim Andrews 00:09:29 This is where I get to sit. Without it, six weeks, eight weeks later, I'd be dead. It's a necessary evil. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:09:37 Necessary at least until he could get a kidney transplant. But again, just as with Montgomery, he knew that could take a while, might never happen, and the clock was ticking. I was ready to die in this chair. And that is when he learned about another option, brand new, still relatively untested. Speaker 11 00:09:58 Some people said, there's not enough information. Don't do this yet. Don't this yet." Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:10:09 You can't really tell by looking at them, but these tiny piglets have been genetically engineered to make their organs more acceptable for transplantation into humans. It's something known as xenotransplantation. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:10:22 So Mike, how unusual is it for us to even be here? Mike Curtis 00:10:25 This is very unusual. We usually try to limit this to only the staff that takes care of the animals. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:10:31 Mike Curtis is the CEO of biotech company eGenesis. Never before has he let cameras onto this very special pig farm. Mike Curtis 00:10:40 Everything's controlled, like all of the feed is clean, water's clean, the staff is clean. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:10:45 And I should just point out that I walked into a room, turned on a filter, essentially cleaned the air for five minutes before I could then go shower. That's why my hair is wet. I put on everything new here, including underwear, socks, shoes. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:10:59 The goal is to protect the pigs from us. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:11:14 You know, I got to tell you, I did not know what to expect, but it's powerful just to be here with these pigs. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:11:23 After all, these pigs are among the most genetically modified mammals on the planet. Mike Curtis 00:11:29 These piglets carry a total of 69 edits to the genome. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:11:34 Alterations to their DNA. Mike Curtis 00:11:37 We're trying to reduce the risk of disease transmission from the porcine donor to human, we're editing in a way that reduces or eliminates hypercute rejection, and then we add human regulatory trans genes to control rejection. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:11:50 'To do that, scientists take the unedited pig cells and use a gene editing tool called CRISPR. They add special CRISPR fluids to the cells, which splices out certain genes and adds other genes. You can't really see anything with the naked eye and it takes only seconds, but what is happening in this vial is truly remarkable. Let me take a second and explain. First of all, remember that all DNA is made up of four chemical bases, A, C, G and T. Think of that as your genetic blueprint. Now, a pig's DNA and a human's DNA, they actually look pretty similar, but there are some important differences. For example, the GGTA1 gene that is responsible for a carbohydrate that forms around a pig cell known as alpha-gal. Now if you put that into a human, it would cause almost instantaneous rejection. But by knocking out that specific sequence and then adding in others. Scientists can make the pig's organs much more compatible for humans. Mike Curtis 00:12:55 So in the freezer are all these cells that we've edited. We thaw that vial, we grow those cells, and then we take the nucleus from that edited cell and we transfer it. It's akin to what was done with Dolly back in the 90s, cloning. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:13:09 'And that is the process by which they have created a modern-day assembly line of genetically modified pigs. Mike Curtis 00:13:17 We've selected the Yucatan Mini Pig because fully grown, they're about 70 kilos, 150 pounds. Right, so the organs are correctly sized for a human recipient. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:13:27 Ultimately, you've got to get the size right. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:13:31 Now, if the idea of using animals for human transplants sounds familiar to you, it's because the concept has been around for a long time. There have been at least 48 cases reported in the medical literature since the 1900s. You may remember one of the most famous. Robert Montgomery 00:13:46 This is Baby Faye. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:13:47 Little baby Faye in 1984. She had a baboon heart that kept her alive for 20 days. But there was always the stubborn issue of rejection. And so for a long time, xenotransplants faded into the background. Robert Montgomery 00:14:01 I think we've turned up the throttle significantly. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:14:05 What's led to that? Robert Montgomery 00:14:06 What we did is transplanted one of these organs into someone who had wanted to donate their organs was brain dead. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:14:14 'You heard that right. The first human patients to receive the gene-edited pig kidneys were brain dead. Why? In order to move the field forward without moving too fast. First, the scientists just wanted to prove that pig organs could survive in a human body. Dr. Robert Montgomery performed that operation on Maurice Miller, who was brain dead Robert Montgomery 00:14:39 We took the clamps off to let the blood go into the organ and it turned this beautiful pink color and started to make urine immediately. Robert Montgomery 00:14:48 Pretty looking kidney. Robert Montgomery 00:14:49 'That was mind-blowing. So it looks a lot like a human kidney. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:14:54 In fact, when I first met Dr. Montgomery a few years ago, he was reviewing Maurice Miller's kidney biopsy. Here's what they learned. About a month into the transplant, the pig kidney did begin to show signs of rejection. Robert Montgomery 00:15:08 See that red? Yes. That's hemorrhage. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:15:11 'But importantly, standard anti-rejection drugs did work. And the kidney function is okay? Robert Montgomery 00:15:18 It's back to normal. Robert Montgomery 00:15:20 It gave, I think, the FDA some confidence that this was going to work in humans. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:15:27 'With all that research in the background, in 2022, the University of Maryland School of Medicine announced the first xenotransplant into a living recipient, someone who is not brain dead. It would be a pig heart into 57-year-old David Bennett. Give me a high five, buddy. That was awesome. David Ayers 00:15:46 We saw two months survival of that patient and now incrementally seeing longer and longer survival in these compassionate use patients. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:15:55 David Ayers is a giant of a man. Seeing him on this farm in Blacksburg, Virginia, you may not know that he is also considered one of the most widely regarded geneticists in the world. David Ayers 00:16:06 We have about 300 research animals here. We grow the designated pathogen free pigs that were ultimately used for the decedent studies, as well as the patients that have received our organs for transplant, both hearts and kidneys. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:16:23 He's taking me to meet some of the farm's newest arrivals. David Ayers 00:16:28 Watch your head, maybe that's just me. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:16:34 There's a lot of piglets David Ayers 00:16:37 Do you want to hold one? Yeah, sure. So these are ten gene Clone Piglets. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:16:44 Here at United Therapeutics, they perform 10 gene edits on their pigs. Now remember, eGenesis in Wisconsin perform more than 60. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:16:57 If you're doing 6 times as many edits does that make it much better? David Ayers 00:16:58 I don't think more edits is necessarily better or worse. The additional 50 edits that eGenesis has done are to inactivate an endogenous pig virus. We've actually addressed that by breeding. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:17:12 In 2024, the first pig kidney transplant was announced. Speaker 14 00:17:16 My name is Dr. Leo Riella. I'm medical director of the kidney transplant program Mass General. Today, we announce the successful gene added to pay kidney transplant into a living human. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:17:28 Tim Andrews, still on dialysis, was watching all of this unfold. Tim Andrews 00:17:34 I'm like, oh, they're doing it at Mass General. And I was like, I have to be part of this. I'm not gonna make it, but I'll make it to this. And I'll tell you right up front, if it's one day and you learn something, thank God. Dr. Riella 00:17:50 His eyes really sparked up and he said, tell me what I need to do. Speaker 11 00:17:56 And they said, prepare your body for battle, because it's gonna be a battle. He had to do dental work, he had to go to physical therapy. We signed up for the gym. When he came back to see Dr. Riella, he had lost 22 pounds. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:18:13 Did you have any doubts along the way? Tim Andrews 00:18:16 You know, there's always doubt with it, but I'm like, this is my chance to do something. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:18:23 You're going to be in medical history books forever. Tim Andrews 00:18:27 Kids are going to be taught how to do it, watching me have one put in me. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:18:33 They'll know your name. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:18:38 It's a crisp January morning back at the Egenesis Pig Farm in Wisconsin. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:18:44 It's been more than a year since our first visit. Speaker 3 00:18:47 This is many years in the making. So Raphael, she'll be able to donate one of her kidneys to a man who's in dire need. And essentially, she's saving his life. Speaker 15 00:18:59 Go, Raphael! It's a really big moment. There's a lot of emotions. We love our piglets like our own. Thinking about the purpose that Raphael is serving, like getting to go and give someone a new lease on life is just such a gift. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:19:18 That someone is Tim Andrews. Raphael will be his donor. Tim Andrews 00:19:25 What a gift. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:19:30 'As Rafael departs for the 17-hour trip to Boston, Tim settles in at Mass General. Tim Andrews 00:19:37 I knew I was in great hands, these guys are just so good. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:19:42 Were you nervous the morning of? Dr. Riella 00:19:45 And we'll see you on the other side, getting ready. As a new man. We're all anxious and nervous about going through a procedure that has not been done before. And having that reassurance from him also brings a lot of positivity to the entire team. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:20:02 It's early morning, January 25th, when Dr. Riella and the surgical team travel about 50 miles outside of Boston to meet Rafael. Dr. Riella 00:20:11 It was an OR, very similar to what we see in the hospital, and the surgery to retrieve the organs occur there. They look very similar to how we do procurements. I think uniqueness is really that, who was a donor, who was coming, yeah, it was a pig. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:20:29 It's go time! Speaker 11 00:20:30 It's a dance to get the pig kidney there and get him in the operating room. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:20:37 They gotta coordinate it. Speaker 11 00:20:37 So a nurse came and said, okay, good to go. I'm like, wait, wait. We haven't said goodbye. You can't say goodbye. Oh, yes, I can. So, I actually made them wait and they said, we've got to go, I'm saying goodbye to my husband before he leaves for surgery and he may not come back. Speaker 17 00:21:00 It's a little chilly in here, okay, Tim? Tim Andrews 00:21:01 I like cold. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:21:02 The operation lasts a little over two hours, around the same as a traditional transplant, and the big kidney. It looks, feels, and functions very much like a human kidney. And here is when surgeons connect the pig kidney to Tim's artery and vein. After that, the moment of truth. Surgeons release the clamp so blood can flow into the kidneys and the organ turns pink. And now this, urine, successfully flowing through the kidneys. Dr. Riella 00:21:36 Wow, look at that. We were very surprised. We were hoping that we would start making urine within a day or two, but seeing the urine being produced right away was not what at least I expected to be happening that close. Everything went well. Speaker 11 00:21:53 They said, they put the kidney on the table and started connecting him to the kidney and he actually peed across the room. So they were very, very excited. Of course, I started bawling like a baby. We were all crying. I mean, we were all. oh my goodness, I mean, this is not the end, but we're getting there, we're getting there. Tim Andrews 00:22:19 'I felt great and all of a sudden I had energy and I was like, this is beyond what I thought I was going to get. So right away you felt that coming? Right away I felt that. I was, like, look at me, I'm a new man, it was like a new birth, I said, I have a new birthday, 125-25 is my new birthday. Because I was alive and I hadn't been for a long time and I'm like, this is amazing. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:22:57 But there was still a long way to go. This is still so experimental after all. And Tim and Karen knew how quickly things could change. It was just a year earlier that Lisa Passano also needed a kidney. Her daughter, Brittany Rydell, remembers just how sick her mother was. Brittany Rydell 00:23:17 It means no more dialysis, hopefully. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:23:20 'Like Tim, she was an end-stage kidney disease, but Lisa's heart was also failing. And that is why a traditional kidney transplant was not an option for her. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:23:30 She was too sick. Brittany Rydell 00:23:32 Yeah, absolutely. Robert Montgomery 00:23:34 Lisa Passano was on death's door. I mean, she was not gonna live. You know, days to weeks from dying. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:23:44 So Dr. Montgomery, who was her surgeon, suggested a pig kidney. Robert Montgomery 00:23:48 But there are some people who are willing to take that chance, and she was one of them. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:23:54 'In the spring of 2024, Lisa Pisano became one of the first two patients in the world to receive a gene-edited pig kidney transplant. Brittany Rydell 00:24:02 I got more energy. I feel energized. After her kidney transplant, I have to say she looked the best that she looked in so I've seen her so happy. It was definitely the healthiest I had seen her in a while. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:24:15 She was doing well at that point. Brittany Rydell 00:24:17 Yeah, we were so hopeful, because I had seen her so much better, and I figured if anything was going to go wrong, it would have went wrong at that moment, and not months later. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:24:28 Pesano developed several infections and never recovered enough to leave the hospital. Brittany Rydell 00:24:33 I don't have regrets about the surgery, I just wish that she could have had the opportunity to really enjoy it more. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:24:40 I know it's probably hard to sort of think of it this way, but she was a real pioneer. Brittany Rydell 00:24:45 One of the first things she said to me was even if this doesn't work for me, it can work for someone else. And I think about that a lot. Robert Montgomery 00:24:52 The first patient that we did was in this bed, in the bed that I was in, Lisa Passano. You know, taking care of that one life. And if they were just that, that would be great, but then you have this opportunity to really impact maybe thousands, maybe millions of lives. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:25:11 Now Tim knew Lisa's story. He knew that there was a tremendous amount of uncertainty. Tim Andrews 00:25:17 Stepping forward, you're gonna do something for humanity. This is a way that we can bring this forward. And this is the hope for all these people that it's gonna be okay. We're gonna find a way, which is amazing to me. It was just, I have to be part of this. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:25:40 So would this be a success for Tim, and what does it all mean for the 100,000 people currently waiting? Tim Andrews 00:25:47 There's bumps in the road. Dr. Sanjay Gupta 00:25:48 We'll dive into that when we come back next week with part two of Animal Farm. Thanks for listening.
CNN
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- CNN
Tornado spotted in Colorado
Tornado spotted in Colorado Video captured a tornado in Aurora, Colorado after severe weather swept through parts of the state. 00:20 - Source: CNN Vertical Trending Now 13 videos Tornado spotted in Colorado Video captured a tornado in Aurora, Colorado after severe weather swept through parts of the state. 00:20 - Source: CNN Pigs may be solution to organ shortage CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores how pigs could help address the human organ shortage through xenotransplantation. Learn how both a pig's similarities and differences make their organs a good match for humans. 'Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports: Animal Pharm' airs Sunday at 8pm ET/PT on CNN. 01:27 - Source: CNN Rare dust storm blankets Chicago The Chicago skyline disappeared momentarily as a wall of dust blew through the city. The National Weather Service attributed this to 60 to 70 mph winds that blew over dry farmlands, collecting dust and blowing it through the Chicago area, according to CNN affiliate WBBM. 00:32 - Source: CNN 'Robocake' includes edible batteries made of dark chocolate This wedding cake, created by researchers and chefs in partnership with the RoboFood project, has edible robotic bears that dance and chocolate batteries that power the candles. 01:28 - Source: CNN Pete Rose eligible for Hall of Fame Major League Baseball removed Pete Rose and "Shoeless" Joe Jackson - two of the sport's most famous players who were previously kicked out of baseball for gambling on the game - from the league's ineligible list. The historic decision allows Rose to be considered for induction into the iconic Baseball Hall of Fame, an honor that was previously ruled out as part of the settlement he reached with the league back in 1989. CNN's Andy Scholes explains. 01:03 - Source: CNN Kim Kardashian tells Paris robber she forgives him CNN's Max Foster notes three words that stood out during Kim Kardashian's five hours of testimony in a Paris courtroom today, where ten defendants are facing charges including armed robbery, kidnapping, and conspiracy. 01:07 - Source: CNN CNN tries what Peruvian locals say is Pope Leo's favorite dish CNN's Stefano Pozzebon is in Chiclayo, Peru, to try what locals say is Pope Leo XIV's favorite dish: cabrito chiclayano. The pope would come to this restaurant in the Peruvian city for lunch as recently as two years ago. 00:43 - Source: CNN Erin Burnett goes inside the papal bowling alley CNN's Erin Burnett goes inside the Pontifical North American College in Rome and the pope's bowling alley 00:32 - Source: CNN 'Twist, drop and push': Rowing like a Venetian In 'Saving Venice,' CNN's Erica Hill speaks with a collective of locals interested in promoting a more ethical tourism industry with respect for Venice's unique and delicate environment. She learns about the innovative ways a new generation of Venetians are working to preserve the city's traditions, mitigate the effects of climate change, and taper the city's dependence on massive amounts of tourists. 'Saving Venice' for 'The Whole Story with Anderson Cooper' premieres Sunday at 8p ET/PT on CNN. 01:12 - Source: CNN Rare volcanic eruption not seen in nearly 40 years Hawaii's Kilauea Volcano could be seen hurling lava upwards of 300 feet into the air during a series of 'rapid rebounds,' which scientists say hasn't been seen in nearly 40 years. 00:33 - Source: CNN Man injects himself over 600 times with snake venom Tim Friede, a self-taught snake expert from California, injected himself with snake venom 654 times over 18 years and later contributed his blood to help scientists develop a new universal antivenom. 01:42 - Source: CNN Hundreds of dachshunds gather in Hungary in record breaking attempt In Hungary, dachshunds and their owners gathered in an attempt to break the record of biggest ever dog walk – a record previously set at 897 by the German city of Regensburg. The Hungarian Records of Association tallied the dogs as they walked through the street with their owners. 00:41 - Source: CNN Bored at the airport? For these travelers, it's showtime! Dancer and choreographer Blake McGrath felt the urge to whip out a dance combo while waiting for his flight at Dallas-Fort Worth International. The flight left without him, but when he uploaded the video to TikTok, it quickly went viral and eventually grabbed over 6.7 million views. 01:41 - Source: CNN
CNN
18-05-2025
- Health
- CNN
Pigs may be the solution to the human organ shortage
CNN's Dr. Sanjay Gupta explores how pigs could help address the human organ shortage through xenotransplantation. Learn how both a pig's similarities and differences make their organs a good match for humans. 'Dr. Sanjay Gupta Reports: Animal Pharm' airs Sunday at 8pm ET/PT on CNN.
