A third person received a genetically engineered pig kidney transplant

Woman from Alabama She has become the third person to undergo a kidney transplant from a genetically modified pig, her doctors announced Tuesday.

Tawana Looney, 53, stopped dialysis after undergoing the procedure at NYU Langone Health on Nov. 25. She was discharged from the hospital on December 6, and her doctors say she is doing well. Your surgery is the latest in a series of similar procedures known as Organ transplantationThe practice of transferring organs from one type to another.

More than 103,000 people in the United States are on the road Waiting list for a transplantwith the vast majority of those needing kidneys. With a shortage of donated human organs, some researchers are exploring the use of pigs as a potential source.

“I’m thrilled,” Looney said at a news conference Tuesday morning. “I’m lucky to have received this gift, a second chance at life.”

Earlier this year, surgeons performed pig kidney transplants on living humans for the first time. In March, 62-year-old Richard Solomon made history when he received a kidney from a genetically engineered pig at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was discharged from the hospital and initially did well, but died approximately two months after the transplant. In a Statement issued by the hospitalHis medical team said there was no indication that his death was the result of an organ transplant. In November, Suleiman’s surgeon said he had died Due to an “unexpected cardiac event” There was no indication that his body had rejected the organ.

in The second attempt, this AprilLisa Pisano, 54, received both a kidney and a thymus from a genetically modified pig after implanting a mechanical heart pump days earlier. The addition of the thymus, a small organ in the upper chest that is part of the immune system, was intended to help prevent rejection. This surgery was also performed at NYU Langone. But 47 days after the transplant, her doctors Elected to remove pig kidney After several episodes of the heart pump not being able to pass enough blood through her new kidney. The kidneys need a constant blood flow so they can produce urine and filter waste. Without it, Pisano College would have failed. She died in July.

Two people have previously received heart transplants from genetically modified pigs. The first in January 2022 And a The second in September 2023Both at the University of Maryland. These patients died less than two months after surgery and were so ill that they were unable to leave the hospital.