alabama woman Doctors announced Tuesday that a pig has become the third person to receive a kidney transplant from a genetically modified pig.
Twana Rooney, 53, underwent surgery at NYU Langone Health on November 25th and has stopped kidney dialysis. She was discharged from the hospital on December 6, and doctors say she is in good health. Her surgery is the latest in a series of similar operations known as xenotransplantation, in which organs are transplanted from one species to another.
More than 103,000 people in the United States Waiting list for transplantthe majority of people need kidneys. Due to the scarcity of human donor organs, some researchers are considering using pigs as a potential source.
“I’m very happy,” Rooney said at a news conference Tuesday morning. “I am happy to receive this gift, a second chance at life.”
Earlier this year, surgeons performed the first pig kidney transplant on a living human. In March, 62-year-old Richard Suleiman made history when he received a kidney from a genetically modified pig at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was discharged from the hospital and initially doing well, but passed away almost two months after the transplant. in Statement released by the hospitalHis medical team said there was no indication that his death was a result of the transplant. In November, Suleiman’s surgeon announced that his cause of death was: Due to an “unexpected cardiac event” And there was no sign that his body rejected the organ.
In a second attempt in April, 54-year-old Lisa Pisano received both a kidney and thymus gland from a genetically engineered pig, after having had a mechanical heart pump implanted days earlier. The addition of a small organ at the top of the thymus, part of the immune system, was intended to prevent rejection. The surgery was also performed at New York University Langone. But 47 days after the transplant, doctors decided to remove the pig’s kidney after experiencing several symptoms that prevented her heart pump from pumping enough blood to her new kidney. The kidneys require a steady flow of blood so they can produce urine and filter waste products. Without it, Pisano’s kidneys would have failed. She passed away in July.
To date, two people have received heart transplants from genetically modified pigs, the first in January 2022 and the second in September 2023, both at the University of Maryland. These patients died less than two months after surgery and were too ill to be discharged from the hospital.
