Surgeons Perform World's First Pig-Human Kidney Transplant

Storyful
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A 62-year-old man suffering from end-stage renal disease has become the first living recipient of a kidney transplant from a genetically modified pig, surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital announced on Thursday, March 21.

The four-hour surgery, performed at the Boston hospital on March 16, marks a “major milestone in the quest to provide more readily available organs to patients,” a press statement said.

The transplant recipient, Weymouth resident Richard Slayman, is recovering well and is expected to be discharged soon, the statement said.

“The real hero today is the patient," Joren C Madsen, Director of the MGH Transplant Center said. “This pioneering surgery, once deemed unimaginable, would not have been possible without his courage and willingness to embark on a journey into uncharted medical territory,” Madsen said.

Photos released by the hospital show health care workers handling the kidney, extracted from a pig that had been genetically modified to remove potentially harmful genes and prevent viruses. Credit: Massachusetts General Hospital via Storyful