Gene-Edited Pig Kidney Keeps Patient Off Dialysis for Nine Months
A gene-edited pig kidney kept a man off dialysis for nine months before he received a human kidney.
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A gene-edited pig kidney has helped a man with end-stage kidney disease stay off dialysis for 271 days while he waited for a human donor organ. The case is an important step in xenotransplantation, the effort to use animal organs in people when human organs are scarce. The pig kidney was genetically altered to make it more compatible with a human immune system and to reduce concerns about infections from pig viruses. The organ initially worked well, but after about six months it developed damage in its small blood vessels and eventually failed. The kidney was removed after nine months, and the patient later received a deceased-donor human kidney that began working successfully. Doctors say the case is especially important because the pig kidney served as a temporary bridge rather than being expected to last permanently. That could eventually give some patients a way to avoid or reduce time on dialysis while waiting for a human transplant. The result is still early evidence from a single carefully selected patient, so larger clinical studies are needed to determine how reliably these organs can work, how long they can last, and how their immune and infection risks can be managed.
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