Fifth Successful Gene-Edited Pig Organ Transplant Achieved by US Surgeons
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Houston, Dec 18 (NationPress) US surgeons have successfully completed the fifth gene-edited pig organ transplant for an Alabama woman, who is now liberated from dialysis and enjoying improved health, according to a statement from New York University (NYU) Langone Health.
This surgery represents a significant breakthrough in a developing surgical technique that aims to address the ongoing organ supply shortage, as highlighted in a press release from NYU Langone Health.
Towana Looney, aged 53, had previously donated a kidney to her mother in 1999 but faced kidney failure years later due to complications from pregnancy that resulted in damaging high blood pressure.
She underwent a seven-hour surgical procedure on November 25, following eight years of being on dialysis.
"It’s a blessing," expressed Looney. "I feel like I've been given another chance at life. I can’t wait to travel again and spend more quality moments with my family and grandchildren."
Doctors anticipate her return home within three months. Should the pig kidney fail, she has the option to resume dialysis, as reported by Xinhua news agency.
Looney's transplant signifies the third instance where a kidney sourced from a gene-edited pig has been successfully implanted into a living individual, based on the information provided in the press release.
She is the inaugural recipient of a kidney from a pig that has undergone 10 gene edits, making her the only individual globally living with a pig organ.
Statistics from the Centre for Disease Prevention and Control indicate that over one in seven adults, approximately 35.5 million people, are afflicted with chronic kidney disease in the United States.
Among these individuals, the National Institutes of Health estimates that nearly 808,000 suffer from end-stage kidney disease, yet only around 27,000 received kidney transplants in 2023.
Earlier this year, US surgeons achieved the world's first successful transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney into a 62-year-old man with end-stage kidney disease.
Surgeons from the Mass General Transplant Centre at Massachusetts General Hospital performed the four-hour surgery in March.
The patient, Richard 'Rick' Slayman, had previously received a kidney transplant at the hospital in 2018, but had to revert to dialysis last year when complications arose. After experiencing dialysis-related issues, his medical team proposed the option of a pig kidney transplant.
"I viewed it not just as a means to help myself, but also as a way to offer hope to the thousands who require a transplant to survive," stated Slayman.
