In a first-of-its-kind xenotransplant experiment, a pig kidney transplanted into the body of a braindead New York man has functioned properly for more than a month, giving hope to a growing list of patients seeking kidney transplants worldwide, the Associated Press reports.
At NYU Langone Health, the patient received the genetically-modified kidney in mid-July with the transplant surgeon noting instantly that the pig kidney “looks even better than a human kidney” after the organ started to produce urine immediately after implantation. The team will monitor the patient for the next month.
This is not the first time pig organs have been used in humans, but it marks the longest time a kidney has worked in a human host. Last year, doctors at the University of Maryland implanted a genetically-modified pig heart into a living patient who had expended all traditional medical options. The patient survived for two months before the heart failed for unknown reasons.