STAT+: Gene-edited pig kidney transplanted into a living patient for the first time
In a new test of xenotransplantation, a medical team at Massachusetts General Hospital announced Thursday that, for the first time, it had transplanted a kidney from a CRISPR gene-edited pig into a living patient.
Surgeons performed the milestone procedure over four hours on Saturday, March 16, without complications. As of Thursday morning, the organ recipient, a 62-year-old man named Richard Slayman, was “recovering well” and expected to be discharged soon, the hospital said in a news release. He had previously received a human kidney transplant, but it failed after about five years, requiring him to resume kidney dialysis in 2023.
“The success of this transplant is the culmination of efforts by thousands of scientists and physicians over several decades,” Tatsuo Kawai, a transplant surgeon at MGH who oversaw the procedure, said in a statement. “Our hope is that this transplant approach will offer a lifeline to millions of patients worldwide who are suffering from kidney failure.”
Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…
