Sure, it's relevant.
The inbred pigs at BTRN are a tool. They are not an integral component of the business plan. If someone else provides the tool, OK.
Further.... any company that is telling you that a single gene is key is BSing you. The issue addressed in the PPL release is not new. They are not the first to knock out "the gene". They may be the first to combine the knock out with cloned pigs. We'll see.
Nonetheless, it's a huge advance, when and if they do it. But it's a very small part of solving xenotransplantation, and, in a way, they're only advancing the tools with which BTRN can work.
This is, again, independent of the route (the highly visible, public one) to hyperacute rejection that is being pursued by Novartis and collaborators.
In the BTRN scope of things, I feel that it's wise to consider the pigs as supplies. I've been hopeful that SCS could also be a supply source. As we've seen, SCS keeps a low profile. Thus, I'm reserving judgement, even for this area which, IMO, is not "core BTRN". |
