Gene-Edited Pig Kidney Transplanted Into Living Human Patient in a World First

For the first time ever, a living human patient has received a gene-edited pig kidney transplant.

Genetically Engineered Pigs

Genetically engineered pigs have been developed by scientists in order to address the insufficiency of human organs for transplant surgeries.

In recent years, there have been several proof-of-concept experiments involving pig organs. One experiment hooked a kidney to the body of a brain dead organ donor. Another involved a double-kidney transplant in a patient who was also brain dead.

The first pig-heart transplant was also seen in 2022. However, the man who received the transplant died shortly after the transplant.

World's First Pig Kidney Transplant

Now, just recently, surgeons from Massachusetts General Hospital were able to successfully transplant a gene-edited pig kidney into a living human patient.

The patient, 62-year-old Richard Slayman, is reportedly doing well and recovering well after the four-hour surgery that took place on March 16. He is also set to be discharged soon.

Slayman has a medical history of high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes. He has been undergoing dialysis for seven years prior to a kidney transplant in 2018. However, after five years, the transplanted kidney exhibited signs of failure. He had to restart dialysis in 2023, which led to grave complications that necessitated regular hospital visits.

Dr. Winfred Williams, the associate chief of the nephrology division at the hospital and the primary kidney doctor of the patient, shares that Slayman would need to wait for five to six years for him to receive a human kidney transplant. The doctor notes that the patient would not have been able to survive this.

Then, Slayman was granted the opportunity to be the recipient of a pig kidney. After talking about the potential risk of the procedure, he eventually agreed to undergo the operation.

The pig kidney was from the biotechnology company eGenesis, which is working on engineered organs that are human-compatible. The firm makes use of the famous CRISPR gene-editing system for tweaking pig genes.

In order to make the organs human-compatible, scientists typically snip out three genes that are involved in the process of carbohydrate production in pigs that the immune system of humans attacks. On top of this, they also added seven genes form humans that could aid in preventing the domino effects related to immunity and that could result in transplant rejection. They finally disabled viral DNA snippets, known as endogenous retrovirus, in the genomes of the pigs. While these do not affect pigs, they could end up hurting humans.

Overall, the scientists made 69 modifications to the genes of the pigs.

As for the transplant procedure, Slayman also received two treatments, which were antibody based, to prevent the rejection of organs. He also received immune-supressing drugs.

The procedure's apparent success sparks hope that these types of transplants could become more common in the future.

Dr. Leonardo Riella, the medical director of the hospital's kidney transplantation, explains that they hope to make dialysis obsolete. The director adds that a great supply of such organs could help in finally achieving health equity and providing the best kidney failure solution to those in need.