PIG kidney works normally in brain-dead man, 57, for over a month – bringing the world one step closer to animal-human transplants

• A pig kidney has survived in a human for 32 days, beating the last that was 72hrs
• The experiment was conducted on a man whose body was donated to science
• READ MORE:  Surgeons transplanted a pig kidney into a human in 2021

A pig kidney transplanted into a brain-dead man has continued to function for more than one month – bringing the world one step closer to animal-human transplants.

The feat was achieved by surgeons at NYU Langone Health, who conducted the procedure on July 14 and said during Wednesday’s announcement that they will continue observations through mid-September.

The experiment was carried out on 57-year-old Maurice ‘Mo’ Miller, whose body was donated by his family after he was declared dead by neurologic criteria and maintained with a beating heart on ventilator support.

It is the latest in a string of developments renewing hope for animal-to-human transplants, or xenotransplantation, after decades of failure as people’s immune systems attacked the foreign tissue. 

A previous attempt saw the organ only last for 72 hours before it was rejected. 

Unlike previous attempts, Wednesday’s success is due to the pig being genetically modified so its organ better matched the human body.

The pig kidney was transplanted into a brain-dead man whose body was donated to science. The pig kidney was genetically modified prior to the experiment

The pig kidney has functioned for 32 days and is still going. Surgeons are set to observe the process until mid-September 

Miller died in July from a brain tumor.

Dr Robert Montgomery, one of the surgeons, said: ‘There are simply not enough organs available for everyone who needs one.

‘Too many people are dying because of the lack of available organs, and I strongly believe xenotransplantation is a viable way to change that.’

The pig kidney underwent a single-gene modification – a sugar molecule on the surface of pig cells that can trigger the human immune system to attack pig organs.

This is compared to previous experiments that used other organs from the animal incorporating up to 10 genetic mutations.

‘We’ve now gathered more evidence to show that, at least in kidneys, just eliminating the gene that triggers a hyperacute rejection may be enough along with clinically approved immunosuppressive drugs to successfully manage the transplant in a human for optimal performance—potentially in the long-term,’ said Montgomery 

Montgomery has performed transplant surgeries thousands of times – but always on humans with human organs.

‘Somewhere in the back of your mind is the enormity of what you’re doing … recognizing that this could have a huge impact on the future of transplantation,’ Montgomery said.

The kidney was at a facility in Virginia and was retrieved just hours before the procedure 

The pig kidney underwent a single-gene modification – a sugar molecule on the surface of pig cells that can trigger the human immune system to attack pig organs.

The feat was achieved by surgeons at NYU Langone Health, who conducted the procedure on July 14. The longest a pig kidney has functioned in a human was just 72 hours

The mission began in the early morning of July 14 when Drs Adam Griesemer and Jeffrey Stern flew hundreds of miles to a facility where Virginia-based Revivicor houses genetically modified pigs to retrieve kidneys lacking a gene that would trigger immediate destruction by the human immune system.

Then the team raced to New York just as Montgomery removed Miller’s kidneys.

One of the animal’s organs was used in the experiment, and the other was stored away for comparison when the investigation comes to a close next month.

Toby Coates, Professor of Medicine at the University of Adelaide and not involved in the experiment, said: ‘This case represents one of the first functional kidney transplants from a pig into a human, and shows proof of principle that organs from a genetically modified animal can replace human kidney function for one week without rejection and using conventional kidney transplant drug therapy.

The experiment brings the world one step closer to animal-human transplants. In the United States, there are more than 103,000 people on the waiting list for a transplant

The man’s sister, Mary Miller-Duffy hesitated to donate her brother’s body but eventually saw how the experiment could lead to saving thousands of lives. Here she is with the head surgeon, Dr Montgomery 

‘The key advance here is the genetic removal of four pig genes that have previously proven a barrier to successful cross-species transplantation, and insertion of six human genes that prevent coagulation and ‘humanize’ the pig kidney to look more human-like (the 10 gene modified pig donor). ‘

READ MORE: US surgeons transplant a PIG heart into a human in world first op 

 A dying man has become the first patient in the world to get a heart transplant from a genetically-modified pig.

In the United States, there are more than 103,000 people on the waiting list for a transplant, with nearly 88,000 of those waiting for a kidney, according to recent federal Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) data. 

In 2022, about 26,000 people received a kidney transplant. Meanwhile, nearly 808,000 people in the U.S. have end-stage renal disease. 

These statics likely helped convince Miller’s family to donate his body, as they were initially reluctant.

‘I struggled with it,’ his sister, Mary Miller-Duffy, told the AP. But he liked helping others and ‘I think this is what my brother would want. So I offered my brother to them.’

‘He’s going to be in the medical books, and he will live on forever,’ she added.

Previously, NYU and a team at the University of Alabama at Birmingham had tested pig kidney transplants in deceased recipients for just two or three days. 

An NYU team also had transplanted pig hearts into donated bodies for three days of intense testing. 

The University of Maryland’s Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin cautions that it´s not clear how closely a deceased body will mimic a live patient’s reactions to a pig organ – but that this research educates the public about xenotransplantation so ‘people will not be shocked’ when it´s time to try again in the living. 

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