Two weeks ago, surgeons from Massachusetts General Hospital for the first time ever transplanted a kidney from a specially genetically modified pig into a living kidney-failure patient, Rick Slayman. Researchers had earlier tested the safety and efficacy of modified pig kidneys in brain-dead patients. Now, the xenotransplant has been so successful that Slayman has been released to go home.
The human-compatible kidney was provided by biotech company eGenesis which used CRISPR gene-editing technology to knock out three porcine genes that would otherwise provoke immunological rejection, add seven human genes to reduce inflammation and rejection, and inactivate porcine retroviruses that might infect a patient.
