A pig kidney transplanted into the body of a human patient who was brain dead has been functioning well for more than a month, according to American surgeons. This is encouraging news for the endeavor to meet the country's high need for organ donations.
On Wednesday, surgeons at the New York University Langone Transplant Institute said that the achievement was the longest time a pig kidney has ever worked in a living, albeit dead, person. Institute head Robert Montgomery told reporters, "We have a genetically modified pig kidney surviving for over a month in a human."
He said that the findings offer "further assurances" for any upcoming research involving live patients. The genetically altered pig kidney was missing a gene that creates macromolecules that human immune systems target. As for kidneys, Montgomery said, "We've now gathered more evidence to show that, at least in kidneys, just eliminating the gene that causes a hyperacute rejection may be enough — along with clinically approved immunosuppressive drugs — to successfully manage the transplant in a human for optimal performance, potentially in the long-term.
