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A Gene-Edited Pig Kidney Was Just Transplanted Into a Person for the First Time

A 62-year-old Massachusetts man with failing kidneys is the first living patient to receive a genetically-altered kidney from a pig.

“Slowly but surely, I witnessed my patient becoming increasingly despondent and depressed over his dialysis situation,” Winfred Williams, a kidney specialist and member of Slayman’s medical team, said on Thursday. The procedure was performed under the Food and Drug Administration’s “compassionate use” pathway, which allows a patient with a life-threatening condition to access an experimental treatment when no other options exist. Locke says the recent flurry of xenotransplantation experiments shows that the idea of using pig organs in people is gaining momentum and is here to stay.

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