Alabama Woman Receives Kidney Harvested From Genetically Modified Pig

The New York Times (12/17, Caryn Rabin) reports, “A 53-year-old Alabama woman with kidney failure who waited eight years for an organ transplant has received a kidney harvested from a genetically modified pig, NYU Langone Health surgeons announced on Tuesday.” The patient “went into surgery just before Thanksgiving.” The woman “was in better health than others who have received porcine organs to date and left the hospital 11 days after the procedure.” However, she “returned on Friday for a series of intravenous infusion treatments.” Even before the organ “transplant, she had high levels of antibodies that made it difficult to find a compatible human donor kidney.” According to the Times, “the case will be closely watched by the transplant community, as success could speed initiation of a clinical trial, bringing pig transplants closer to reality and helping to solve the organ-supply shortage.” The AP (12/17, Neergaard) reports, “Towana Looney is the fifth American given a gene-edited pig organ – and notably, she isn’t as sick as prior recipients who died within two months of receiving a pig kidney or heart.” The patient’s “surgery marks an important step as scientists get ready for formal studies of xenotransplantation expected to begin next year, said Dr. Robert Montgomery of NYU Langone Health, who led the highly experimental procedure on Nov. 25.”