"Pioneering Pig Kidney Transplant: A Breakthrough for Medical Advancement"

In a groundbreaking medical procedure, a team of surgeons in Boston, Massachusetts, has successfully transplanted a pig kidney into a living human for the first time. The recipient, a 62-year-old man named Richard Slayman, is recovering well after the surgery, which took place on March 16. The kidney was taken from a miniature pig that had undergone extensive genomic editing to prevent rejection of the donated organ and reduce the risk of infection.

The operation marks a significant milestone in the field of xenotransplantation, the use of animal organs in human recipients. The successful transplant has raised hopes that clinical trials for xenotransplanted organs could begin soon, potentially bringing a new source of life-saving organs for the thousands of people waiting for a kidney transplant.

The pig kidney was taken from an animal that had undergone CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing by scientists at eGenesis, a biotech firm in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The company is in discussions with the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) about planning clinical trials for its programmes for transplanted pig kidneys, livers, and pediatric hearts.

The kidney was modified to remove three genes that contribute to the production of a protein on the surface of pig cells, which the human immune system attacks as a foreign invader. Seven genes were added to help prevent organ rejection. Additionally, 59 genetic changes were made to inactivate viruses embedded in the pig genome, addressing the risk that the viruses could become active once in the human body.

The surgery took four hours, and the kidney immediately began to function once blood flow was restored. Slayman's creatinine level, a measure of kidney health, dropped from 10 milligrams per decilitre prior to the transplant to 2.4 by the fourth day. He could be released from the hospital as early as tomorrow.

The successful transplant has brought renewed hope to the field of xenotransplantation, which has long been seen as a potential solution to the shortage of human organs available for transplant. In the United States alone, there are nearly 90,000 people waiting for a kidney transplant, and more than 3,000 people die every year while still waiting.

"This is great news for the field," said Muhammad Mohiuddin, a surgeon and researcher at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore, who led the first pig-heart transplant in a living person. "Clinical trials would produce much-needed rigorous data about the safety and efficacy of xenotransplantation."

The successful transplant has also raised questions about the potential risks of xenotransplantation, including the risk of transmitting viruses or other pathogens from animals to humans. Researchers are monitoring Slayman closely for any signs of infection, and have collected and frozen blood samples from him, his family members, and his surgeons.

Despite these concerns, the successful transplant has been hailed as a major breakthrough in the field of transplantation. "It's just amazing," said Qin, a molecular biologist at eGenesis. "There was always a saying that xenotransplantation is around the corner, and will always be. Well, now we have someone among us that carries a porcine kidney."

Source: <https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-00879-y>