Making transplanted organs invisible to immune system may prevent rejection

London, November 16 : Experiments on pigs have given rise to a simple technique to make transplanted organs invisible to the immune system, so that they would not be rejected by the body.

Robert Winston of Hammersmith Hospital in London, and Carol Readhead of the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena have revealed that their technique can alter the DNA in sperm cells, and consequently in any future offspring.

The researchers have revealed that their approach involves injecting a virus carrying genes that can "disguise" organs into the testicles.

The team, who have tested the technique on six boars, say that the animals could pass on the genetic changes to their piglets when they bred naturally.

They revealed that the pigs' sperm carried a jellyfish "marker" gene that glows green, reports New Scientist magazine.

The main objective of the research is to test tissue from piglets sired by the boars to see whether they inherited the gene.

ANI