cover of episode Return of Alpha Gal

Return of Alpha Gal

2021/12/10
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A
Amy Pearl
C
Cheryl Van Neunen
L
Latif Nasser
L
Lulu Miller
R
Robert Montgomery
T
Thomas Platts-Mills
Topics
Lulu Miller和Latif Nasser:本期节目讲述了一个医学突破的故事,这个突破将令节目中一位深受喜爱的嘉宾心碎。这个突破是外科医生成功地将猪肾移植到人体内,并且成功了,人体没有排斥猪肾。这篇报道中提到的猪肾来自一只经过基因改造的猪,这与Radiolab之前播出的关于Alpha-gal过敏的故事有关。 Robert Montgomery:进行异种移植的原因是人体器官供给不足,导致许多人等待器官移植期间死亡。第一次猪肾移植是使用一位脑死亡捐献者的身体进行的测试,以验证其安全性。在采访进行时,医生又成功完成了一例猪肾移植手术。猪肾移植手术中,猪肾被放置在大腿处,便于观察其是否被排斥。新移植的猪肾立即开始制造尿液,表明手术成功。 Amy Pearl:Amy Pearl以前非常喜欢吃肉。Amy Pearl在吃了烤羊腿后出现过敏反应。Amy Pearl怀疑自己对肉类过敏。Amy Pearl的医生起初不相信存在肉类过敏症。Amy Pearl的过敏症状有所减轻,但她仍然害怕再次食用肉类。Amy Pearl的α-gal抗体水平有所下降,但仍然很高。Amy Pearl仍然害怕进行食物挑战测试。Amy Pearl担心自己无法在紧急情况下生存,因为她不能吃肉。Amy Pearl现在更倾向于素食主义。Amy Pearl认为蜱虫叮咬让她变成了更好的人。 Thomas Platts-Mills:起初,医生们不相信突然出现的肉类过敏症。成年人不会突然对吃了几十年的食物过敏。一种名为西妥昔单抗的癌症药物的副作用导致人们对肉类过敏。α-gal糖是导致过敏反应的罪魁祸首。 Cheryl Van Neunen:许多肉类过敏患者都曾被蜱虫叮咬。 Revivicor公司员工:Revivicor公司培育了一种不含α-gal糖的猪,其器官可用于移植。Amy Pearl的故事促使Revivicor公司将基因改造猪肉作为食物。

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Amy Pearl, a meat lover, suddenly develops an inexplicable allergy to meat, which leads to a medical investigation involving a rare sugar called Alpha Gal and a potential link to tick bites.

Shownotes Transcript

Tuck your napkin under your chin.  We’re about to serve up a tale of love, loss, and lamb chops - with a side of genetic modification.

Several years ago we told a story about Amy Pearl. For as long as she could remember, Amy loved meat in all its glorious cuts and marbled flavors. And then one day, for seemingly no reason, her body wouldn’t tolerate it.  No steaks. No brisket. No weenies. It made no sense: why couldn’t she eat something that she had routinely enjoyed for decades? 

It turned out Amy was not alone. And the answer to her mysterious allergy involved maps, a dancing lone star tick, and a very particular sugar called Alpha Gal. 

In this update, we discover that our troubles with Alpha Gal go way beyond food. We go to NYU Langone Health hospital to see the second ever transplant of a kidney from a pig into a human, talk to some people at Revivicor, the company that bred the pig in question, and go back to Amy to find out what she thinks about this brave new world.

The original episode was reported by Latif Nasser, and produced by Annie McEwen and Matt Kielty. Sound design and scoring from Dylan Keefe, Annie McEwen, and Matt Kielty. Mix by Dylan Keefe with Arianne Wack.

*The update was reported and produced by Sarah Qari. It was sound designed, scored, and mixed by Jeremy Bloom. *

*Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at Radiolab.org/donate).  ** *