Tim Andrews spent 271 days living with a genetically modified pig kidney before receiving a human kidney transplant in January, giving new hope to patients struggling with dialysis, according to a paper published Thursday in the Lancet.
\n\nThe New York Times reports that Andrews was 66 when diabetes and high blood pressure destroyed his kidneys. He had survived two heart attacks, had no appetite, and was too weak to walk. “I was dying,” he said. His rare blood type made finding a matching human donor kidney even less likely, and he was one of roughly 90,000 people on the U.S. waiting list for a kidney transplant, a list where an average of 11 people die every day, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing.
\n\nRather than wait, Andrews sought out the experimental pig kidney transplant program at Mass General Brigham. “I figured, if I’m going to die, I might as well do something for humanity and be part of this experiment,” he said. In January 2025, he received a kidney from a pig that had undergone numerous genetic edits, including changes designed to prevent severe organ rejection and to inactivate viruses in the pig genome.
\n\nThe kidney worked. “It…
Original source: https://www.breitbart.com/tech/
