Gene-edited pig kidneys were successfully transplanted in humans — and still work 1 month later. It could pave the way for a new kidney-disease treatment.

• Two separate research teams have successfully transplanted pig kidneys into humans.
• In the US, 808,000 people live with end-stage kidney disease, but few receive a kidney transplant.

Pig organs could one day be the answer to organ-transplant shortages.

On July 14, a research team at New York University's Langone Health successfully transplanted a genetically altered pig kidney into a brain-dead man. As of August 16, the kidney had reached the 32-day mark of functioning properly — a record.

The news came the same day that another research team, at the University of Alabama at Birmingham's Heersink School of Medicine, published a study in which pig kidneys that underwent several gene alterations successfully functioned in a brain-dead man for seven days.

"This is the first time in history that anyone has been able to show a genetically modified pig kidney is able to maintain life-sustaining kidney function," Jayme E. Locke, the lead author of the University of Alabama study, told The Washington Post.

These successes could pave the way for animal-to-human organ donations, known as xenotransplantation, and help bridge the gap between the number of people who need a kidney transplant and those who receive them.

Over 800,000 people in America have end-stage kidney disease

In the US, just over 800,000 people are living with end-stage kidney disease, which requires either dialysis or a kidney transplant. Roughly 69% of patients with end-stage kidney disease are on dialysis, and the rest are living with kidney transplants, according to the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Organs used in transplants are acquired from both living and dead donors who are matched on key metrics to help ensure that the transplanted organ will function correctly in the new body.

But the need for organ transplants far exceeds the availability. One in 17 Americans die each day waiting for an organ transplant, according to Health Resources and Services Administration, and kidneys are the most needed organ.

The Washington Post reported that as of Wednesday, there were nearly 103,479 people on the waiting list for an organ transplant. Of those people, 88,651 were waiting for a kidney transplant, according to United Network for Organ Sharing data. But only 26,000 people received a kidney transplant in 2022, according to NYU Langone Health.

Many people die before receiving a transplant, some become too sick to receive one, and others never even make it on the waiting list, The Washington Post said.

Pig kidneys could save lives

This is not the first time pig kidneys, or other pig organs, have been transplanted into a human. But both of these studies show far more success than previous attempts.

The University of Alabama team found that their kidneys successfully took over urine production and filtering toxins, notably creatinine — a byproduct of muscle function that, if it builds up, can be toxic, Locke told The Washington Post.

That the pig kidney at NYU Langone has surpassed the 14-day mark is also key. The team told The Washington Post that there were 1,000 proteins that pigs have that humans don't and that it can take 10 to 14 days to see how a person's immune system responds. Passing the 14-day mark is a promising sign that the organ will continue to thrive inside a person for a long time.

The NYU team is now planning to track the functioning of the kidney for one more month, The Washington Post reported.