Joe Carrotta for NYU Langone Health
A genetically engineered pig kidney transplanted into a brain dead man continues to function after 32 days—marking the longest time such a kidney has worked in a human being and another milestone in the emerging field of xenotransplantation (the transplanting of organs from one species to another).
The success of the procedure offers a lot of hope for the growing backlog of more than 103,000 U.S. patients on the organ transplant list—with the vast majority (88,000) waiting for kidneys. Potential recipients of kidneys wait an average of three to five years for a viable organ—precious time that many patients simply cannot afford depending on their condition.
The new procedure was performed on July 14, 2023 by a team of doctors at NYU Langone Health on a 57-year-old patient named Maurice Miller who passed unexpectedly following surgery to investigate a brain tumor. Miller is neurologically dead but continues to survive with a heartbeat and ventilator. The pig kidney, which was genetically modified to be accepted by the human body, has been functioning optimally since the surgery, and even produced urine soon after it was transplanted.