US Doctors Successfully Test Pig Kidney Transplant Into Human Patient

For the first time, a pig kidney has been transplanted into a human without triggering immediate rejection by the recipient’s immune system, a potentially major advance that could eventually help alleviate a dire shortage of human organs for transplant.

NEW YORK

The procedure done at NYU Langone Health in New York City involved use of a pig whose genes had been altered so that its tissues no longer contained a molecule known to trigger almost immediate rejection.

The recipient was a braindead patient with signs of kidney dysfunction, whose family consented to the experiment before she was due to be taken off life support, researchers told Reuters.

‘LOOKED PRETTY NORMAL’

For three days, the new kidney was attached to her blood vessels and maintained outside her body, giving researchers access to it.