内容摘要：AP journalists Holly Meyer and Tiffany Stanley contributed.

AP journalists Holly Meyer and Tiffany Stanley contributed.

Now the FDA is evaluating promising results from experiments in donated human bodies and awaiting results of additional studies of pig organs in baboons before deciding next steps.They’re semi-custom organs — “we’re growing these pigs to the size of the recipient,” Ayares noted — that won’t show the wear-and-tear of aging or chronic disease like most organs donated by people.

Transplant surgeons who’ve retrieved organs on Revivicor’s farm “go, ‘Oh my god that’s the most beautiful kidney I’ve ever seen,’” Ayares added. “Same thing when they get the heart, a pink healthy happy heart from a young animal.”PIgs stand in pens at the Revivicor research farm near Blacksburg, Va., on May 29, 2024, where organs are retrieved for animal-to-human transplant experiments. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)PIgs stand in pens at the Revivicor research farm near Blacksburg, Va., on May 29, 2024, where organs are retrieved for animal-to-human transplant experiments. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)

The main challenges: how to avoid rejection and whether the animals might carry some unknownThe process starts with modifying genes in pig skin cells in a lab. Revivicor initially deleted a gene that produces a sugar named

, which triggers immediate destruction from the human immune system. Next came three-gene “knockouts,” to remove other immune-triggering red flags. Now the company is focusing on 10 gene edits — deleted pig genes and added human ones that together lessen risk of rejection and blood clots plus limit organ size.

They clone pigs with those alterations, similar to how Dolly the sheep was created.Follow AP’s coverage of Latin America and the Caribbean at

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — An iconic reindeer so beloved that he has been in parades, featured on reality TV shows and visited by schoolchildren on field trips inis fighting for his life after mysteriously falling ill after someone tampered with his pen.

Ever since, 8-year-old Star has had pneumonia, digestion issues and rapid weight loss. Star’s owner, Albert Whitehead, has taken him to a veterinarian every other day to receive care and in hopes of finding a cause for the issues.“I think we’ve done everything possible for him,” Whitehead said. Veterinarian Sabrieta Holland said she the reindeer’s prognosis is “guarded.”