"Scientists have successfully stopped a pig kidney from being rejected by its human recipient. The organ survived for 61 days in the recipient, a 57-year-old brain-dead man in the United States, the longest a genetically modified pig organ has survived in a brain-dead person. In two papers, published in Nature today, researchers describe the main factors that cause the human immune system to reject transplanted organs."
"Along with the pig kidney, the male recipient also received the pig's thymus, a small gland that taught the man's immune system to recognize the pig's cells as part of the body. The thymus probably played a big role in helping the pig organ survive for longer, says co-author of the studies, Robert Montgomery, a surgeon and researcher at the New York University Langone Transplant Institute in New York City."
A genetically modified pig kidney and co-transplanted thymus survived 61 days in a 57-year-old brain-dead human recipient, the longest survival for a genetically modified pig organ in a brain-dead person. Two scientific papers identify major factors that drive human immune rejection of transplanted organs and indicate pathways to reverse rejection. Co-transplantation of a pig thymus appears to promote immune recognition of pig cells and extended graft survival. Previous clinical xenotransplants into living patients often failed because of loss of function or complications from immunosuppression. The donor pig was supplied by Revivicor, a United Therapeutics subsidiary, and the procedure occurred on 14 July 2023 at NYU Langone.
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