Madness or revolution? They transplanted a pig kidney into a human

One of the biggest problems of contemporary medicine is insufficient number of organs for transplantation. Patients can wait in the queue for donors for years and cling to only false hope. Often, just being on such a list is already a success due to the many restrictive requirements that must be met. She could be the saving grace here xenotransplantation, i.e. interspecies organ transplantation. However, this is opposed by bioethicists.

First pig kidney transplant

Pig heart transplants have been tried before. Two such xenotransplantations were performed and both ended similarly. The operations were a success, but the patients died shortly afterward. However, this does not mean that scientists will give up xenotransplantation. This is evidenced by the fact that the first one in the world was carried out in mid-March genetically modified pig kidney transplant into the body of a living person.

Similar transplants had previously been performed on patients who had been diagnosed with irreversible coma. The organ worked properly throughout the observation period, i.e. up to two months. However, now the transplant was performed on a living patient.

A modified pig kidney received by Richard Slayman, a 62-year-old resident of Weymouth, Massachusetts, who suffered from end-stage renal disease. Recent reports from Massachusetts General Hospital argue thatthe patient's recovery is progressing properly and he will be able to be discharged from the hospital soon.