On Wednesday, NYU Langone Health revealed that scientists successfully transplanted a pig kidney into a brain-dead patient. According to ABC News, doctors believe it could lead to more animal-human transplants in the future. The surgeons transplanted a genetically altered pig kidney that is still functioning well after 32 days into a man who was certified dead by neurologic criteria but was kept alive with a beating heart on ventilator support, according to a release from NYU Langone Health.
“The pig kidney appears to replace all of the important tasks that the human kidney manages”
Robert Montgomery, professor, and chief of the Department of Surgery at NYU Langone Health and director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, led the procedure on July 14, 2023. Mr. Montgomery stated that the kidney has been functioning normally for a month and that its performance will be examined for the next two months. “The one-month kidney biopsies and kidney tests show no evidence of rejection and normal renal function,” Dr. Montgomery said during a press conference. “The pig kidney appears to replace all of the important tasks that the human kidney manages.”
Dr. Adam Griesemer, a transplant surgeon at NYU Langone Health, explained during the press conference that the thymus was also transplanted, embedded beneath the kidney’s outer layer, because it has been shown to help protect the transplanted kidney from being attacked by the human immune system, according to ABC News. “The thymus gland is the tissue in our neck and chest where our immune system matures and where it learns to recognize the proteins in our body and learns to reject proteins that are not part of our own body,” Dr. Griesemer explained. “So, transplanting the thymus from the pig allows new developing cells in the recipient’s body to learn to recognize the pig antigens as their own, and it can potentially lead to a decreased immune response and decreased risk of rejection.”
The transplant was performed on 57-year-old Maurice Miller. His sister, Mary Miller-Duff, said that her brother would be proud to be a part of it. “Mo, as I like to call him, was a kind, giving brother who loved life, and always lent a helping hand,” Miller-Duff said at the press conference. “It is only fitting that in his final act, he will be helping so many in need through this innovative medical advancement.”
