🐖 Genetically modified pig kidney transplanted into human for the first time

• For the first time, surgeons have transplanted a kidney from a genetically modified pig into a living person.
• This type of kidney could help reduce the shortage of organs.
• The transplantation took place at the same hospital that performed the first successful transplantation of a human kidney in 1954.

A groundbreaking operation

In Boston, doctors have for the first time carried out a transplantation of a kidney from a genetically modified pig into a human. The transplanted organ came from a pig that underwent 69 genetic modifications. CRISPR-Cas9 was used to remove harmful pig genes and add certain human genes to improve its compatibility with humans.

The patient, Richard Slayman, 62 years old from Weymouth, Massachusetts, received the organ during a four-hour procedure at Massachusetts General Hospital. Slayman is recovering well and is expected to be discharged soon, according to the hospital.

Can reduce organ shortage

This transplantation is a step forward in the search for new solutions to the global shortage of transplant organs. Several biotech companies are competing to develop a supply of cloned pigs whose DNA has been modified so that their organs will not be rejected by the human body.

Currently, there are over one hundred thousand people on the waiting list for organs in the USA, and many die every day due to a lack of available organs.

The hospital where the transplantation was carried out, Mass General Brigham, also performed the first successful transplantation of a human kidney in 1954.

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