Pig kidney transplanted to human: surgeon explains the success (video)

Pig kidney connected to the human body – and the organ is functional according to the circumstances. Surgeons in New York City have connected the animal organ to the body of a brain-dead patient – for the first time ever without any direct rejection reactions. Because: “We took the kidney from a genetically modified pig. In the animal, the molecule that makes the organs between pigs and humans incompatible and that triggers rejection was suppressed,” says surgeon Dr. Robert Montgomery. The brain-dead woman’s family had agreed to the operation. The kidney was left outside the body for three days to allow doctors further access. “The kidney produced a lot of urine as it should be, like after a human-to-human transplant.” In addition, the patient’s abnormal kidney values ​​normalized after connecting the kidney. “No signs of direct rejection. It works pretty well. We observed the kidney for 54 hours and documented its function. Those are modest findings. But the fact that it works at all, animal-to-human transplantation, cannot be overestimated will.” Scientists have been working on the possibilities of organ transplantation from animal to human for decades, but have so far failed due to the direct rejection of the organs. Despite all the optimism after the surgeon’s success, the doctors in New York assume that further attempts will also reveal further difficulties in the transplant from pig to person. In the US alone, more than 100,000 people are currently waiting for a new organ, more than 90,000 of them for a kidney. The average waiting time is three to five years.