First gene-edited pig kidney transplant

Surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital have transplanted a pig kidney into a living person for the first time. On 16 March, a 62-year old man with end-stage kidney disease received a kidney from a genome-edited pig developed by eGenesis. The humanized pig organ was taken from a genetically engineered Yucatan miniature pig carrying a total of 69 gene edits designed to increase compatibility between the pig graft and its human recipient. The changes in the genome were of three types: knockouts of three genes involved in glycan antigen synthesis to avoid acute rejection; inserts of seven human transgenes involved in pathways that regulate immunity, coagulation and complement; and inactivation of porcine endogenous retroviruses to avoid their transmission and integration into the recipient.

Xenotransplants — ones from animal to human — have long been considered as a potential solution to the chronic shortage of organs for transplantation, but progress has been slow, with only a few successful examples of xenotransplants surviving for a few months in nonhuman primates. In recent years, the first person to receive a genetically edited pig heart from the company Revivicor, a subsidiary of United Therapeutics, lived for two months; a second transplant recipient lived for six weeks. Revivicor introduced 10 genetic modifications in the pigs to ensure the organs do not grow too big, to avoid blood clots, and to limit rejection.

No Result