eGenesis: Two Pig Kidney Recipients Get Human Organs — SkimNews
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- eGenesis announced Thursday evening that two of its first recipients of genetically engineered pig kidneys have successfully received human donor organs, marking a milestone for xenotransplantation.
- In both cases, doctors removed the xenograft pig kidney and patients returned to dialysis for months before a human organ became available — the transition to a human organ was not immediate.
- The two recipients each spent the better part of a year off dialysis while their pig kidneys functioned, time they would not otherwise have had given the human organ shortage.
- Xenografts — genetically engineered pig organs transplanted into humans — are being developed by eGenesis and a handful of other biotech companies racing to commercialize the approach.
- The milestone validates scientists' prior hypothesis from primate studies that pig kidney recipients would not produce antibodies that would complicate a later human-to-human transplant.
- The xenograft project is motivated by the chronic shortage of human donor organs, with many patients dying while waiting for a match.
Why it matters: The successful transition answers a key scientific question that had shadowed xenotransplantation since its earliest primate studies — whether pig kidneys would create antibodies that block future human transplants — and shows the organs can buy patients nearly a year off dialysis without closing the door on a human match, a meaningful bridge for patients who would otherwise die waiting.
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