Pig kidney transplant let man live without needing dialysis for nine months in world-first

A man has had a pig kidney successfully transplanted into him for nine months while he awaited a human kidney. Doctors are hailing the procedure as a world-first as a “bridge” organ as millions around the world are on transplant waiting lists to get human organs. Tim Andrews, who had end-stage kidney disease, was 66 when he received the genetically modified pig kidney in the US last year. He then lived successfully with the genetically edited organ for 271 days without dialysis before getting a donor human kidney. Researchers from Mass General Brigham hospitals groups said this is the longest dialysis-free survival following a pig kidney transplant and the first transition from pig to human kidney transplantation. Tim has told a CNN documentary that the pig kidney transplant was a "miracle", and added: "I was alive and I hadn't been in a long time." Tim had kidney failure caused by type 2 diabetes and had been living on dialysis before receiving the pig kidney from a Yucatan miniature pig. He said he was now able to cook, vacuum and take long walks with his dog Cupcake. Details of the breakthrough in xenotransplantation - which means animal-to-human - are published in the Lancet medical journal. Lead author Dr Leonardo Riella said: "The organ shortage is the greatest crisis we have right now in transplantation. We know that the best treatment option for patients with end-stage kidney disease who have developed renal failure is transplantation, but we simply don't have enough human organs to transplant in a timely manner. "Our vision is that xenotransplantation could help address this gap - initially as a bridge to get patients off dialysis while they wait for a human donor kidney, and potentially, as we establish long-term safety and durability, as a destination therapy in its own right." It comes as the UK organ donor waiting list is at a record high after a post-pandemic downturn in families approving transplants in deceased relatives. Scientists used gene editing to genetically engineer the organ to be compatible with his human immune system - so the body would not recognise it as from another species and reject it. After six months scientists identified damage in the kidney's blood vessels which progressed to organ failure and the pig kidney was removed and replaced by a kidney from a dead human donor. The milestone follows the case of American Rick Slayman who was the first person to receive a genetically modified pig kidney at Massachusetts General Hospital in 2024. Medics hailed the operation as a success but the 62-year-old died two months later. The Massachusetts hospital said at the time there was no indication his death was a result of the transplant. Mr Andrews’ case gives fresh hope that pig organs could one day be safe enough to become part of the answer to the global shortage in organs for transplant. Before then scientists say they could be used as a bridge before a human organ comes available. Dr Rommel Ravanan, chief medical officer for NHS Blood and Transplant in the UK, said: "Advances in genetics technology enable teams to `knock out' some of the pig genes, so the human body is less able to recognise [that] the organ was different. Pigs are chosen for several reasons, including that their organ size and anatomy is similar to that of a human.” Dr Riella said: "The patients are the true pioneers here. By stepping forward and being willing to participate in these early-stage studies, they are advancing the science.” The Department of Health and Social Care has now set up an advisory group to help advise ministers on the ethics around pig transplants. Dr Ravanan added: "It's important to recognise that, even if shown to be effective, there is still a very long way to go before these kinds of transplants could become an everyday reality. "With the transplant waiting list at an all-time high, and people dying on the transplant waiting list every day, there is an urgent need for more people to support organ donation by joining the NHS Organ Donor Register and talking to their family about their wish to be an organ donor." To find out more and to register an organ donation decision call 0300 123 23, visit organdonation.nhs.uk or use the NHS app.