MEDICINE NET
Towana Looney’s journey with a genetically modified pig kidney has ended after 130 days, but the groundbreaking procedure is still considered a step forward for xenotransplantation
Doctors at NYU Langone Health have removed a genetically modified pig’s kidney from 53-year-old Towana Looney after her body rejected the organ, the hospital reported. Looney, who had the transplant for 130 days, lived longer with a pig kidney than any previous patient. Dr. Robert Montgomery, who led the transplant, emphasized that the removal was not a setback for xenotransplantation, the use of animal organs in humans.
“This is the longest one of these organs has lasted,” Montgomery told The New York Times. “All this takes time. This game is going to be won by incremental improvements, singles and doubles.”
Looney, who had traveled to New York from Alabama, had other medical conditions that may have influenced the outcome. She began dialysis again after the kidney’s removal, but expressed hope for the future of xenotransplantation.
“For the first time since 2016, I enjoyed time with friends and family without planning around dialysis treatments,” Looney said in a statement.
United Therapeutics Corporation, which developed the genetically modified pig, plans to begin clinical trials later this year. The trials will study pig-kidney transplants as a potential solution to the U.S. kidney shortage, where more than 550,000 people suffer from kidney failure.