In a world first, surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital successfully transplanted a genetically modified pig kidney into a person with chronic kidney disease. The historic procedure builds off of decades of research into gene editing of animal organs and could mark an inflection point in efforts to cut down on sometimes fatally lengthy transplant wait times. Recent advances in gene editing technology means procedures like these could become more common.
The patient, a 62-year-old man from Massachusetts named Richard Slayman, has severe diabetes and hypertension and has been on dialysis for seven years. He eventually received a new kidney from a human donor but it began showing signs of failure after five years. Slayman was on a waiting list for another kidney when his doctors suggested the possibility of receiving an experimental kidney from a gene-edited pig.
“I saw [the transplant] not only as a way to help me, but a way to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” Slayman said in a statement.
The modified pig was engineered by Massachusetts-based biotech firm eGenesis. Scientists used CRISPR gene editing technology to produce a pig with 69 gene modifications. Several of these modifications were meant to remove harmful pig genes that could provoke an immune response from the patent. Human genes were also added to the pig to improve the kidney’s compatibility and lessen the likelihood of the human body rejecting it.
After around four hours of tense operating, surgeons in the room reportedly said they saw the transplanted kidney producing urine, a key sign the procedure was a success. The room filled with applause and cheers.
“This represents a new frontier in medicine and demonstrates the potential of genome engineering to change the lives of millions of patients globally suffering from kidney failure,” eGenesis CEO Mike Curtis said in a statement.
Why are scientists…
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