Man lives nine months without dialysis after genetically modified pig kidney transplant
The pig organ acted as a temporary bridge while the 66‑year‑old awaited a human donor after a January 2025 transplant.
A man received a genetically modified pig kidney and went nine months without needing dialysis, in what doctors describe as the first such case in the world.
The patient, Tim Andrews, who had end-stage kidney disease, was 66 years old when he received the pig kidney in the United States in January 2025. He lived with the genetically modified organ for 271 days before moving to a short course of dialysis and then receiving a human donor kidney.
The transplant team — composed of specialists from academic centres and the Mass General Brigham hospitals in Boston — published their findings in The Lancet. Clinicians said the animal organ functioned as a temporary "bridge" while the patient awaited a human transplant.
On the limits of current transplant capacity
Dr. Leonardo Riella, the lead author from the Center for Transplant Sciences at Mass General Brigham, said: "The shortage of organs is the greatest crisis we face in the field of transplantation at the moment. We know that the best option to treat patients with end-stage kidney disease, in whom kidney failure has occurred, is transplantation, but we simply do not have enough human organs to perform the procedure in a timely manner."
According to the team, this 271-day period is the longest reported survival without dialysis after a pig kidney transplant in a living human, and it is the first documented case of a patient transitioning from a pig kidney transplant to a human kidney transplant.
Doctors and researchers say the case highlights xenotransplantation's potential to serve as a temporary solution for patients on long waiting lists, while also underscoring the persistent shortage of human organs for transplantation.
Photo: ДПА)
