Pig kidney transplanted genetically modified in the United States in a 62-year-old patient. It’s the first time in the world that this has happened. If the new technique is confirmed from studies demonstrating its safety and effectiveness, will represent an epochal turning point for many people waiting for a new organ. Only in October 2023 a pig’s heart had been transplanted into a seriously ill patient.
Pig kidney transplanted: the patient is well and the organ works
At the moment the man, who underwent surgery last week, is doing well: the new kidney immediately began producing urine. Doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said the patient’s condition was steadily improving. The man can already walk and he may soon leave the hospital to go home.
The story of the American patient
The patient si chiama Richard Slayman and had suffered from diabetes and hypertension for many years. She has received dialysis for seven years. In 2018 she received a human kidney, but the transplant didn’t work.
His situation was too serious to wait for a new kidney from a human donor. He would have to wait up to six years and would certainly die sooner. For this reason, after discussing it with the doctors, she agreed to undergo the experiment.
The history of pig transplants
The kidney belonged to an already genetically modified pig, designed by the biotechnology company eGenesis, which removed three genes involved in potential rejection. Experts inserted seven human genes to improve compatibility.
Trials of pig kidney transplants began in the United States in 2021. Doctors at NYU Langone Health in New York had attached a kidney from a genetically modified pig to a brain-dead man. Already in that case they had seen that the organ began to function and produce urine.
How many patients are on dialysis in Italy? How many are waiting for a kidney transplant?
Data from the Italian Dialysis and Transplant Registry in Italy claim that in our country alone there are around 4500 patients being treated with peritoneal dialysis, around 42,000 on extracorporeal dialysis and over 27,000 with kidney transplants. According to the Ministry of Health, there are 8,291 patients registered in the transplant information system waiting lists. 72.5% (6,132) are waiting for a kidney, 12.7% (1,076) a liver, 7.9% (670) a new heart. Many patients die waiting for an organ.