NEED TO KNOW
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Tim Andrews acquired a genetically modified pig kidney in a groundbreaking surgical procedure at Massachusetts Basic Hospital
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The pig kidney functioned for 271 days earlier than Andrews acquired a human kidney transplant
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Medical doctors say xenotransplantation may assist handle the organ scarcity by serving as a bridge for sufferers awaiting human donors
A pig kidney has efficiently labored inside a human affected person for 271 days, marking the longest time on report, in response to docs.
In January 2025, Tim Andrews, then 66, acquired a genetically modified pig kidney in a groundbreaking xenotransplantation surgical procedure by a crew of Harvard Medical College physician-scientists at Massachusetts Basic Hospital.
“I used to be dying,” Andrews recalled to The New York Times in a report printed on Thursday, Sept. 3. “I figured, if I’ll die, I would as nicely do one thing for humanity and be a part of this experiment.”
Surgeons from Massachusetts Basic Hospital efficiently transplanted a genetically-edited pig kidney into 66-year-old Tim Andrews
Credit score: Kate Flock/Massachusetts Basic Hospital
Andrews lived with the organ for 9 months earlier than changing into the primary identified affected person to obtain a human donor kidney following a pig kidney transplant. Medical doctors detailed the milestone in a paper printed Thursday, Sept. 3 in The Lancet.
The preliminary pig kidney was profitable for six months earlier than it began failing. It was later eliminated, Andrews briefly underwent dialysis, after which he acquired a human kidney from an identical donor in January 2026.
“The organ scarcity is the best disaster we’ve proper now in transplantation,” Leonardo Riella, lead writer and medical director for kidney transplantation at Mass Basic Brigham, stated in a release. “We all know that the most effective therapy choice for sufferers with end-stage kidney illness who’ve developed renal failure is transplantation, however we merely do not have sufficient human organs to transplant in a well timed method.”
Surgeons efficiently transplanted a genetically-edited pig kidney into Tim Andrews
Credit score: Kate Flock/Massachusetts Basic Hospital
“Our imaginative and prescient is that xenotransplantation may assist handle this hole — initially as a bridge to get sufferers off dialysis whereas they look ahead to a human donor kidney, and doubtlessly, as we set up long-term security and sturdiness, as a vacation spot remedy in its personal proper,” he stated.
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Medical doctors stated that this case reveals promise for xenotransplantation to be a “bridge” for sufferers awaiting human kidneys.
“The sufferers are the true pioneers right here,” Riella stated. “By stepping ahead and being keen to take part in these early-stage research, they’re advancing the science. With out their belief and braveness, we might not be capable to do what we do.”
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