Breakthrough as pig kidney transplanted into human
A PIG’S kidney has been successfully transplanted into a human patient in the first procedure of its kind.
Richard Slayman, 62, received the genetically altered organ during a four-hour operation at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston on Saturday.
Last night doctors revealed it had been a success, with the new kidney producing urine almost immediately, and said Mr Slayman is already walking around the hospital and may soon be discharged.
Mr Slayman, who was suffering from diabetes and hypertension, said: ‘I saw it not only as a way to help me, but a way to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive.’
The kidney he was given had been developed by Massachusettsbased biotech company eGenesis. To make the pig’s kidney more compatible with their patient, and reduce the risk of it being rejected by his body, scientists removed three pig genes and inserted seven human genes.
Dr Tatsuo Kawai, MGH’s director for clinical transplant tolerance, said: ‘Our hope is that this transplant will offer a lifeline to millions of patients worldwide who are suffering from kidney failure.’
Animal-to-human transplants – medically termed xenotransplantation – could provide more organs for patients. The breakthrough could be significant, as waiting lists can run into years.
On average here in Ireland, patients wait about three years for a deceased donor kidney transplant.
In 2022, there were 512 patients on the organ transplant waiting list for a kidney in this country.
During this time, patients must use dialysis – a machine that filters waste products from the blood when the kidneys stop working.
But if genetically modified animal kidneys can be transplanted on a large scale, dialysis could soon be ‘obsolete’, medics at MGH said.
Dr Michael Curtis, chief executive of eGenesis, said the procedure was a ‘major breakthrough in science and transplant medicine’.
He added: ‘This successful procedure heralds a new era in medicine in which we have the potential to eliminate organ supply as a barrier to transplantation and realise our vision that no patient dies waiting for an organ.’
‘A new era in medicine’