A kidney transplanted from a genetically modified pig functioned inside a patient for 271 days, setting a new record for xenotransplantation, according to physicians at Mass General Brigham.
The recipient, Tim Andrews, said the procedure gave him “hope” and freed him from the grueling routine of dialysis. The surgical team emphasized that their work demonstrates pig organs can serve as a viable “bridge” for patients awaiting human donors.
Eventually, the porcine organ failed and was removed, requiring Andrews to briefly resume dialysis before a human donor kidney became available. Researchers are actively pursuing xenotransplantation—transplanting organs across species—to address the critical shortage of human organs. In the United States, roughly 100,000 people await a kidney transplant, yet only about 25,000 procedures are performed annually; in the United Kingdom, more than 7,000 patients remain on the waiting list.
Andrews had been told the wait for a human kidney could stretch to seven years, while the average life expectancy on dialysis is only five years. “I had a little bit of a shortage of time… it becomes very depressing,” he said. He described the xenotransplant as the “light at the end of the tunnel,” adding, “Hope is the biggest thing, the chance to be free from the [dialysis] machine and live your life.”