Pig to human kidney transplants worked for more than 2 days

Embargoed until: Publicly released: 2022-05-19 07:00

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The results of a pig to human kidney transplant, which hit the headlines in 2021, have now been published in a peer reviewed journal, and the data shows that the organs remained viable and functioning for 54 hours - or more than 2 days. The researchers transplanted kidneys from genetically modified pigs into two brain-dead patients who were on life support, and monitored them to see if the kidneys would work and if they would be rejected.  The kidneys began to function almost immediately and showed no signs of hyperacute or antibody-mediated rejection. An accompanying comment suggests that the evidence seems to justify moving toward clinical trials of these sorts of transplants.