Pig kidney transplanted into a man for the first time

A man got a kidney from in a pig in transplant operation for the first time. The man had kidney failure and was on dialysis.

Last Saturday, Richard Slayman made history: He became the first living person to receive a genetically modified kidney from a pig, surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston said Thursday.

Slayman, 62, whose kidneys had failed and who had been on dialysis, underwent the four-hour operation Saturday to receive the pig kidney, said his nephrologist, Dr. Winfred Williams, the associate chief of the nephrology division at Mass General.

“It really is a groundbreaking milestone,” William said. “Should the kidney continue to work well and this is a success, I think it represents a breakthrough in a number of different areas.”

The first successful pig kidney transplant in a living recipient — a milestone in the field of so-called xenotransplantation, or animal-to-human transplant — could offer hope to the tens of thousands of people in the U.S. on the waiting list for organ transplants, as well as countless others worldwide. 

More than 100,000 people in the U.S. are on transplant waiting lists, including about 90,000 who need kidneys, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, a nonprofit group that manages the U.S. organ transplant system.

https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/first-pig-kidney-transplant-human-rcna144273

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