Two Gene-Edited Pig Kidney Recipients Successfully Receive Human Organs Later

Doctors testing animal-to-human organ transplants, known as xenotransplantation, have long wondered whether a patient's body would produce antibodies after receiving a pig organ that could complicate a later transplant from a human donor. Based on studies in primates, scientists at the biotech company eGenesis did not expect this to happen. On Thursday evening, eGenesis announced confirmation in humans: two of its first recipients of genetically engineered pig kidneys have now successfully received kidneys from human donors.

The transition was not seamless. In both cases, doctors removed the pig kidney, known as a xenograft, and the patients went back on dialysis for months before a human organ became available. Still, the fact that the two patients could go the better part of a year without needing to be hooked up to dialysis machines marked a milestone, according to the report.

eGenesis is one of a handful of companies racing to develop xenografts. The effort is motivated by the shortage of human organs available for transplant: there are not enough donor organs for everyone who needs one, and many patients die while waiting for a match.