For the first time in the world: genetically modified pig kidney transplanted into a human

A team of specialists from Massachusetts General Hospital has made a historic step in the field of medicine by performing the first successful transplantation of a genetically modified pig kidney into a human.

This is reported on the website of the medical institution. The operation lasted four hours and was successful. The patient, Richard Slayman, a 62-year-old man who suffered from type 2 diabetes and hypertension, is doing well. He is scheduled to be released from the hospital soon.

Slayman was on dialysis from 2011 to 2018 due to complications caused by his diseases. In 2018, he underwent a donor kidney transplant, but five years later, the organ failed. In 2023, he returned to dialysis and regular hospitalizations. According to a nephrologist at Massachusetts General Hospital, it is likely that Slayman would not have lived to see the day he received a new kidney from a donor.

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The donor organs were provided by the biotechnology company eGenesis, which uses CRISPR technology to modify the genome. In order to ensure compatibility with the human body, scientists removed certain pig genes that could lead to rejection and added human genes that promote successful adaptation. The transplantation procedure involved pretreatment with antibodies and medication to suppress the immune response.

The doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital hope that transplantation of genetically modified organs will become more common, allowing many patients to avoid complex therapies and long transplantation waiting lists. They emphasize that the shortage of donor organs is a serious problem, and hope that biotechnology will help solve this problem in the near future.

It should be noted that in January 2022, American researchers performed a transplant of a genetically modified pig heart on a 57-year-old man suffering from heart failure. However, a few months after the operation, he died of heart failure, and the incident was subject to a thorough analysis to determine the causes of its occurrence.

As a reminder, for the first time in the world, a case of tracheal rupture due to "silent sneezing" was recorded.

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