Pork kidney transplanted into a man worked for two months – a record

This is a scientific record. After operating a genetically modified pig kidney on a brain-dead person for two months, the US scientific team behind the transplant announced Thursday that it had completed the experiment as planned.

“We have learned a lot over the past two months through detailed observations and analysis, and we have good reason to be optimistic about the future,” Dr. Robert Montgomery, director of the New York University Transplant Research Institute, said in a statement. Langone Hospital in New York, where the procedure was performed.

These animal-to-human transplants, called xenografts, may offer a solution to the chronic shortage of donor kidneys. More than 100,000 Americans are currently on an organ transplant waiting list, with nearly 88,000 of them waiting for a kidney.

Genetically modified

On July 14, a pig kidney was transplanted into a brain-dead man who donated his body to science. The pig was genetically modified to prevent the human body from immediately rejecting the organ.

Although there were no signs of rejection after a month, the scientists indicated on Thursday that mild rejection subsequently occurred, necessitating increased immunosuppressive treatment. Additional results will be published in the coming months, NYU Langone said in a statement.

For the first time in 2021

The team has performed several xenografts in recent years, including the world’s first human pig kidney transplant in September 2021. But all their trials so far have been quite short. The experiment, conducted this summer, lasted a total of 61 days, which is a record.

“To create an unlimited supply of organs, we must learn to manage organ transplantation from pigs to humans,” Dr. Robert Montgomery reiterated Thursday. “Testing them in deceased patients allows us to optimize the immunosuppression regimen and the choice of gene modifications to make future studies safer. “Other tests on the dead are also planned.