Gene-Edited Pig Kidney Sustained a US Patient for 271 Days Before He Received a Human Transplant
Science & ClimateWell-covered
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The Facts
- Surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital transplanted a genetically modified pig kidney into Tim Andrews, 66, in January 2025.
- The pig kidney functioned for 271 days, the longest recorded for an animal-to-human organ transplant.
- Andrews did not require dialysis during the nine months the pig kidney was working.
- Doctors removed the pig kidney after complications, and Andrews returned to dialysis.
- Andrews received a kidney from a human donor in January 2026.
- The Mass General Brigham team says this is the first case of an animal organ bridging a patient to a human transplant.
- The organ came from Wilma, a Yucatan miniature pig carrying 69 genetic edits made by the company eGenesis.
- The case was published in The Lancet by a team led by Leonardo Riella of Mass General Brigham.
- Before the operation, doctors estimated Andrews had a 9% chance of receiving a human kidney within five years.
- Demand for donor kidneys far exceeds supply, which researchers cite as the motivation for xenotransplantation.
Context
What is xenotransplantation, and why are researchers pursuing it?
Xenotransplantation is the transplanting of organs from one species into another BBC,RTVE.es. Doctors and scientists are exploring it because of shortages of human donor organs: the BBC reports about 100,000 people in the US are waiting for a kidney while only about 25,000 transplants take place each year BBC. The New York Times reports roughly 90,000 people are on the US kidney waiting list and, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing, an average of 11 people die each day while waiting NYT.
Why did the pig kidney eventually fail?
The organ was removed after blood clots formed in its vessels kp.ru,Фонтанка.ру. Andrews then spent 82 days on dialysis before a human donor kidney became available, which his body accepted without major problems N-tv,GMX.
Why was the pig genetically modified?
The pig's genome was altered so the human immune system would be less likely to reject the organ and to prevent transmission of viruses Bild,News18,Lenta.ru. The donor pig carried 69 genetic edits, made possible by gene-editing techniques such as CRISPR EL PAÍS,Lenta.ru.
Where Left and Right agree, and where they split
- Where Left and Right agree
- Nine months off dialysis was a real gain, the complications that ended it were real too, and both reads want the science held to a hard safety standard.
- Where Left and Right split
- Whether the story is about making sure a bridge organ reaches patients who can't buy their way forward, or about preserving a patient's right to accept an unproven one.
- Why they won’t converge
- This is a values-and-trust divide over who should govern access: one side reads the same 271 days as a case for public funding and equity guardrails, the other as proof that patient consent and private labs should decide — agreement on the clinical record cannot adjudicate that.
How left and right read it
Nine months off dialysis is not an abstraction to anyone waiting on a list that outlasts them — it is time, mobility, a life kept whole while the queue moves. That is why 271 days of function from a 69-edit pig kidney, and then a human donor organ in January 2026, matters as more than a lab milestone. The complications that forced removal are the point too. Fund this work publicly, hold it to rigorous safety review, and make sure the benefit reaches patients who cannot buy their way to the front.
“Details of the breakthrough, which offers hope to millions of people whose kidneys have failed, were published in the Lancet medical journal.” — The Guardian
A patient should be free to accept an unproven organ, and a private lab should be free to build one. Because Andrews took that risk, he went 271 days without dialysis before a human kidney arrived in January 2026 — a bridge, not a dead end. The 69 edits came from eGenesis. Hold the science to a hard standard; do not regulate the option out of existence.
“Patients on organ-donation waiting lists should have transplants from pigs while a suitable human donor is found, scientists have suggested.” — The Telegraph
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