Get the latest tech news

First human transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney performed


Surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital said they transplanted a genetically edited pig kidney into a living human for the first time. The 62-year-old recipient has end-stage kidney disease.

Richard Slayman, 62, of Weymouth, Mass., who is suffering from end-stage kidney disease, received the organ Saturday in a four-hour procedure, Massachusetts General Hospital announced. "If the FDA wants to explore the use of pig kidneys in humans, it would be better to authorize a phase I clinical trial so we can begin to gather more systematic evidence about this," Michael Gusmano, a bioethicist at Lehigh University, wrote NPR in an email. "When my transplanted kidney began failing in 2023, I again trusted my care team at MGH to meet my goals of not just improving my quality of life but extending it," Slayman said in the hospital's statement, adding the doctors explained the "pros and cons of this procedure."

Get the Android app

Or read this on r/technology

Read more on:

Photo of modified pig kidney

modified pig kidney

Photo of human transplant

human transplant

Related news:

News photo

First Human Transplant of a Genetically Modified Pig Kidney Performed