Genetically Modified Pigs Provide Relief for Alpha-Gal Allergy SufferersGenetically Modified Pigs Provide Relief for Alpha-Gal Allergy Sufferers In Blacksburg, Virginia, Revivicor, a biotechnology company, has created genetically modified pigs that do not trigger an allergic reaction in individuals with Alpha-gal syndrome. This condition, also known as the lone star tick bite allergy, occurs when the immune system becomes sensitive to a sugar molecule called alpha-gal found in the tissues of mammals. GalSafe Pigs Offer a Safe Alternative Revivicor’s “GalSafe” pigs have had the gene responsible for producing alpha-gal disabled. This modification allows individuals with alpha-gal syndrome to consume pork from these pigs without experiencing an allergic reaction. The pigs have received approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use as a food source for affected individuals. Free Distribution to Allergy Sufferers Revivicor does not sell GalSafe pork commercially. Instead, the company donates it to allergy sufferers who register through a pork application. The pork is processed at a USDA-certified slaughterhouse and shipped frozen to recipients. Xenotransplantation Research Revivicor’s primary focus is on xenotransplantation research, which seeks to use animal organs for transplants in humans. Alpha-gal has been a significant obstacle in this field, as it causes the human immune system to reject foreign organs. By removing the alpha-gal gene, Revivicor has created pigs that are more compatible with human recipients. Pork from Organ-Donating Pigs Not Allowed Meat from GalSafe pigs that have donated organs cannot be used for food consumption due to the anesthesia used during the organ removal process. This anesthesia violates USDA regulations for drug-free food. Safe and Effective Testimonies from recipients of GalSafe pork have expressed gratitude for the opportunity to enjoy red meat again. The pigs provide a safe and effective alternative for individuals who have been restricted from consuming mammalian products due to alpha-gal syndrome.
David Ayares, president and chief scientific officer of Revivicor, holds a package of frozen meat from genetically modified pigs. The pigs are known as GalSafe pigs because they no longer contain the sugar responsible for alpha-gal syndrome, an allergy to red meat. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)
BLACKSBURG, Va. — Some people who develop a strange and terrifying allergy to red meat after being bitten by a lone star tick may still be eating pork from a surprising source: genetically modified pigs created for organ transplant research.
Don’t look for them in supermarkets. The company that raised these special pigs shares their small stock with allergy sufferers for free.
“We get hundreds and hundreds of orders,” says David Ayares, president of Revivicor Inc., as he opens a freezer filled with packages of ground pork, ham, ribs and pork chops.
The allergy is called alpha-gal syndrome, named after a sugar found in the tissues of almost all mammals—except humans and some of our primate cousins. It can cause a severe reaction hours after eating beef, pork, or other red meat, or certain mammal products like milk or gelatin.
But where does organ transplantation come in? There aren’t enough donated human organs to go around, so researchers are trying to use organs from pigs instead—and that same alpha-gal sugar is a big hurdle. It causes the human immune system to immediately destroy a transplanted organ from a regular pig. So the first gene Revivicor disabled when it started genetically modifying pigs for animal-to-human transplants was the gene that produces alpha-gal.
Although xenotransplants are still experimental, Revivicor’s “GalSafe” pigs received Food and Drug Administration approval in 2020 for use as a food source and as a potential source for human therapies. The FDA found that there were no detectable levels of alpha-gal in multiple generations of the pigs.
Revivicor, a subsidiary of United Therapeutics, is not a food company — it does xenotransplantation research. Nor has it found anyone in the agricultural sector interested in selling GalSafe pork.
Still, Ayares describes the start of deliveries a few years ago like this: “This is an investigational product that is FDA-approved, so let’s get it to patients.”
Revivicor’s GalSafe herd is housed in Iowa, and to keep numbers under control, some meat is periodically processed at a U.S. Department of Agriculture-certified slaughterhouse. Revivicor then sends frozen shipments to alpha-gal syndrome patients who fill out a pork application.
On the notice board by the freezer in Revivicor’s headquarters are thank-you letters telling people how nice it is to eat bacon again.
Additionally, a Revivicor farm in Virginia is home to pigs with various gene modifications for xenotransplantation research, including a GalSafe pig that recently served as the source for an experimental kidney transplant at NYU Langone Health.
And then the question arises: can the pig, after the transplantable organs have been removed, be used for meat?
No. The strong anesthesia used to make the animals feel no pain during organ removal means they do not meet USDA rules for drug-free food, said Dewey Steadman, spokesman for United Therapeutics.
