A third person received a genetic pig kidney transplant

A woman from Alabama has become the third person to receive a kidney transplant from a genetic pig, her doctors announced Tuesday.

Towana Looney, 53, is off kidney dialysis after undergoing the procedure at NYU Langone Health on Nov. 25. She was released from the hospital on December 6, and her doctors say she is in good health. His surgery is the latest in a series of similar procedures known as xenotransplantationthe practice of transplanting organs from one species to another.

More than 103,000 people in the United States are on the waiting list for a transplantwith most of those needing a kidney. With human donor organs in short supply, some researchers are exploring the use of pigs as a potential source.

“I’m happy,” Looney said at a news conference Tuesday morning. “I am blessed to have received this gift, a second chance at life.”

Earlier this year, surgeons performed pig kidney transplants into living people for the first time. In March, 62-year-old Richard Slayman made history when he received a kidney from a genetically engineered pig at Massachusetts General Hospital. He was released from the hospital and initially did well, but died almost two months after the transplant. In a statement released by the hospitalhis medical team said there was no indication that his death was a result of his transplant. In November, Slayman’s surgeon said that his death was caused by an “unexpected cardiac event”, and there was no sign that his body had rejected the organ.

In the second attempt, this AprilLisa Pisano, 54, received both a kidney and thymus gland from a genetically engineered pig after having a mechanical heart pump implanted days earlier. The addition of the thymus, a small organ in the upper chest that is part of the immune system, was intended to help prevent rejection. This surgery was also performed at NYU Langone. But 47 days after the transplant, his doctors elected to remove pork kidneys after several episodes of the heart pump not being able to get enough blood through his new kidney. The kidney needs a steady flow of blood to be able to produce urine and filter out waste. Without him, Pisano’s kidney would have failed. She died in July.

Two individuals have previously received heart transplants from genetically modified pigs, the first in January 2022 and a second in September 2023both at the University of Maryland. Those patients died less than two months after their surgery and were too sick to leave the hospital.