Pig kidney works in human body for 271 days - is this the future of organ transplants? - BBC News

A man has lived for a record nine months with a transplanted pig kidney while waiting for a human transplant.

Image source, Kate Flock/Massachusetts General HospitalImage caption, Patient Tim Andrews (centre) with Dr Tatsuo Kawai (left) and Dr Leonardo Riella (right)

Health and science correspondentPublished3 September 2026A kidney transplanted from a pig has worked inside a patient for 271 days – the longest on record, say US doctors.

Tim Andrews said the transplant gave him "hope" and spared him months of needing to go to hospital to have his blood filtered by a dialysis machine.

The team at Mass General Brigham hospital say their work shows pig organs can be used as a "bridge" until a human transplant becomes available.

But the pig organ eventually failed and was removed so Andrews needed a short bout of dialysis before a donor was found.