History in the making:
World’s First Genetically-Edited Pig Kidney Transplant into Living Recipient Performed at Massachusetts General Hospital
PRESS RELEASE of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). Brandon Chase. Mar. 21 2024. See here for the original report.
Today, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) announced the world’s first successful transplant of a genetically-edited pig (porcine) kidney into a 62-year-old man living with end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). Surgeons from the Mass General Transplant Center conducted the four-hour-long surgery on Saturday, March 16. The procedure marks a major milestone in the quest to provide more readily available organs to patients.
The four-hour-long surgery was conduced on Saturday, March 16. The kidney, comes from a pig donor:
The pig kidney was provided by eGenesis of Cambridge, Mass., from a pig donor that was genetically-edited using CRISPR-Cas9 technology to remove harmful pig genes and add certain human genes to improve its compatibility with humans. Additionally, scientists inactivated porcine endogenous retroviruses in the pig donor to eliminate any risk of infection in humans. Over the past five years, MGH and eGenesis have conducted extensive collaborative research, with the findings published in Nature in 2023.
Meanwhile, the patient is receiving his second kidney transplant already:
Mr. Slayman, who has been living with Type 2 diabetes and hypertension for many years, previously received a kidney transplant from a human deceased donor in December 2018, performed at MGH by Kawai, after being on dialysis seven years prior. The transplanted kidney showed signs of failure approximately five years later and Mr. Slayman resumed dialysis in May 2023. Since resuming dialysis, he encountered recurrent dialysis vascular access complications requiring visits to the hospital every two weeks for de-clotting and surgical revisions, significantly impacting his quality of life and a common problem among dialysis patients.
I am genuinely happy and even, shocked for this fast progress. At the end of the report, quote Leonardo Riellathe, the Medical Director for Kidney Transplantation:
Seventy years after the first kidney transplant and six decades following the advent of immunosuppressive medications, we stand on the brink of a monumental breakthrough in transplantation. At MGH alone, there are over 1,400 patients on the waiting list for a kidney transplant. Some of these patients will unfortunately die or get too sick to be transplanted due to the long waiting time on dialysis. I am firmly convinced that xenotransplantation represents a promising solution to the organ shortage crisis.
And new field for interdisciplinary research that dives deep, does good, save lives.