Clinically Dead Man Receives Pig Liver and Two Kidneys in First Multi-Organ Xenotransplant

A 53-year-old man whose brain had died received a liver and two kidneys from a pig whose genome had been edited at six sites. The procedure took place at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University in Nanning, China. The pig received three human genes intended to limit blood-clotting problems and three pig genes were removed to lower rejection risk.

Within 19 hours the transplanted liver began producing bile, and blood levels of creatinine and urea returned to normal after the kidneys were implanted.

The man had severe chronic kidney disease and brain bleeding before brain death was confirmed. His own liver was healthy and was given to a living recipient. Family consent allowed the organs to remain in place for almost five days. Researchers observed early rejection markers after 36 hours, including replacement of some pig cells by human cells, small areas of tissue death, and blood clotting in the liver.

Elevated levels of the immune cell S100A12+ were also recorded. The team noted that drugs targeting these immune cells might reduce longer-term rejection risk. The study was published in the journal Med.