The world’s person, an American woman has become the longest-lived person after receiving a pig kidney transplant – today marks the 61st day that the woman has been functioning without any problems with the transplanted organ in her body.
The full recovery of Alabama’s Tovana Luna is a major boost for those who want animal-to-human transplants to become a reality. Only four other Americans have received experimental transplants of genetically modified pig organs – two hearts and two kidneys – but none have lived longer than two months.
The doctor said her kidney function was “absolutely normal.” Doctors hope she will be able to leave New York, where she is temporarily living for post-transplant checkups, and return home to Alabama in about a month.
Scientists are genetically modifying pigs to make their organs more human-like to address a severe shortage of human organs for transplant. More than 100.000 people in the US are on the transplant list, most needing a kidney, but thousands die before they can receive the surgery.
Pig organ transplants have until now been experiments that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) allows only in special circumstances, for those who have no other options.
There’s no way to predict how long Luni’s new kidney will work, but if it were to fail, she could go on dialysis again.