News

National swine facility to expand

An $8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health will help expand organ transplant and livestock research at the University of Missouri. National Swine Resource and Research Center Director Randall Prather says more space is needed to house the hogs used for organ transplant research. “We make pigs that are used to transfer their organs into non-human primates to test the technology so eventually, we can improve the efficiency so more organs can go into humans. There have been a few transplants earlier this year and last year.” The building expansion also benefits agricultural research. “There’s really neat things we can do for agriculture. Because we have the critical mass with the biomedical funding, it makes doing the agricultural things easier.” The expansion is expected to begin in early 2024 and be completed by summer 2025.