a woman from alabama She has become the third person to receive a kidney transplant from a genetically engineered pig, her doctors announced Tuesday.
Towana Looney, 53, has stopped kidney dialysis after undergoing the procedure at NYU Langone Health on Nov. 25. He was released from the hospital on December 6, and his doctors say he is in good health. His surgery is the latest in a series of similar known procedures xenotransplantationThe practice of transplanting organs from one species to another.
More than 103,000 people are on it in the United States waiting list for transplantMost of whom require a kidney. With human donor organs in short supply, some researchers are exploring the use of pigs as a potential source.
“I'm very happy,” Looney said at a news conference Tuesday morning. “I'm blessed to have this gift, a second chance at life.”
Earlier this year, surgeons transplanted pig kidneys into living people for the first time. In March, Richard Slayman, 62, made history when he received a kidney from a genetically engineered pig at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was discharged from the hospital and was initially in good condition, but died about two months after the transplant. one in Statement issued by the hospitalHis medical team said there was no indication that his death was a result of his transplant. In November, Slayman's surgeon announced that he had died. Due to an “unexpected cardiac event”, And there was no sign that her body had rejected the organ.
In Second attempt, this AprilLisa Pisano, 54, received both a kidney and a thymus gland from a genetically engineered pig after having a mechanical heart pump implanted a few days ago. The purpose of adding the thymus, a small organ in the upper chest that is part of the immune system, was to help prevent rejection. That surgery was also performed at NYU Langone. But 47 days after the transplant, his doctors… Chosen to remove pig's kidney After several heart pump events, his new kidney was unable to get enough blood through it. The kidneys need steady blood flow so they can produce urine and filter waste. Without it, Pisano's kidneys were failing. He died in July.
Two individuals previously received heart transplants from genetically engineered pigs, First in January 2022 and a Second in September 2023both at the University of Maryland. Those patients died less than two months after surgery and were too sick to leave the hospital.