Surgeons in Langone NYU performed a possible life-changing surgery by attaching a pig's kidney to a brain-dead human being. The groundbreaking procedure might someday save the lives of humans in need of organ transplants.
The surgery was performed by Dr. Robert Montgomery and his team on September 25th using a genetically engineered pig kidney. The procedure was only made possible because a family decided to allow it on their brain-dead family member who had a kidney dysfunction and was going to be taken off life support.
The community in need of any type of organ transplant is very large. In the United States alone we are speaking about more than 118.000. If this number is not astonishing to you, other numbers may be. 64% of these people are currently placed on a waiting list and every 10 minutes an additional candidate is added to the never-ending record. Those numbers are shared by the United Network of Organ Sharing (UNOS) which has been tracking the patients for over several years now.
Not only is procuring organs challenging, but ensuring these are healthy makes it even more so. This procedure could ensure a reliable stream of organs and potentially reduce waiting times exponentially.
The pig had undergone genetic editing to remove a specific molecule by the name of Alpha-gal. Taking out this type of sugar prevents the immune response in humans from being triggered.
This is a milestone in medicine, especially for patients with end-stage kidney failures. Of course, this is not gonna be immediate and will take another year or two. However, it opens up many possibilities for other organs from pigs to be used in future transplants.
Bibliography
Carrotta, J. (2021) Dr. Robert Montgomery performs the first xenotransplantation of a genetically engineered nonhuman organ to a human at NYU Langone. [Photograph]. Rappler. https://www.rappler.com/science/life-health/surgeons-successfully-test-pig-kidney-transplant-human-patient
Landsverk, G. (2021, October 21). See how surgeons transplanted a pig kidney into a dead person in a groundbreaking operation. Business Insider. https://www.insider.com/surgeons-attach-pig-kidney-to-human-breakthrough-procedure-2021-10
​​Rabin, R. (2021, October 19). In a First, Surgeons Attached a Pig Kidney to a Human, and It Worked. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/19/health/kidney-transplant-pig-human.html
US surgeons test pig kidney transplant in human patient. (2021, October 20). Reuters. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2021/10/20/us-surgeons-test-pig-kidney-transplant-in-human-patient