UAB surgeons transplant pig kidneys into a human body for the first time
UAB's surgical team prepares the abdomen of the brain-dead recipient for xenotransplantation.
A team of scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham is the first to successfully transplant the kidneys of a genetically modified pig into the body of a brain-dead recipient.
The surgery, which took place last September, is detailed in a peer-reviewed article published Thursday in the American Journal of Transplantation.
Upon being transplanted into the human recipient, researchers said the pig kidneys turned pink, and one began to make urine after 23 minutes.
“That is what every transplant is supposed to do, and it was amazing,” said Dr. Jayme Locke, director of UAB’s Comprehensive Transplant Institute and lead surgeon for the study.
The study lasted 77 hours before the recipient was taken off of life support. During that time, the kidneys appeared to function, though one produced more urine than the other, and there were no signs of immediate organ rejection. Additionally, no pig viruses or pig cells were detected in the recipient’s body.
The research is the latest milestone in the field of xenotransplantation and the first time that such a surgery has been described in a peer-reviewed journal.
Locke is hopeful that genetically modified pig organs will one day provide a life-saving solution for thousands of people who die every year waiting for a kidney transplant.
“They have a disease that we have a cure for, but we don’t have enough and we need a radical solution,” Locke said. “We have to find an alternative organ source, and xenotransplantation, I believe, is the answer.”
Locke said UAB’s research will likely be key to gaining approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for a Phase 1 clinical trial, which researchers hope to begin later this year.
The study answered several questions about the viability of genetically modified pig kidneys inside the human body. It also demonstrated a new model of testing research on a brain-dead recipient.
Scientists hope to name the model they tested after the individual in the study, 57-year-old Jim Parsons, who was fatally injured in a motorcycle accident last year.
Parsons’ family, who consented to the research, described him as a compassionate father who sought adventure and was always willing to help.
“Our greatest hope is that this study … will ultimately bring new life to hundreds of thousands of people in the United States and around the world in need of a kidney transplant,” said Parsons’ ex-wife Julie O’Hara. “We’re forever honored that Jim’s gift has an opportunity to give those in need a chance at life.”
Many questions remain about the process of xenotransplantation, but scientists hope it could be an option for patients in the coming decade.
Last fall, surgeons at NYU Langone Health attached a genetically modified pig kidney to the outside of a brain-dead recipient’s leg. Earlier this month, surgeons in Maryland completed the first successful transplant of a pig heart into a living recipient.
EDITOR’S NOTE: UAB holds WBHM’s broadcast license, but our news and business departments operate independently.
How Alabama’s first commuted death sentence this century came about
Robin "Rocky" Myers has been on Alabama’s death row for more than 30 years. Then, on February 28, he became the first Alabamian this century to have his death sentence commuted.
Steve Reich has always been to able to hear the pulse
The 88-year-old composer, who talks as fast as the interlocking phrases of his music, looks back on crucial moments in a career that moved minimalism into the mainstream.
There’s a lot to unpack in ‘Black Bag’ — a witty, sexy spy thriller
Cate Blanchett and Michael Fassbender play a high-ranking spy couple in Steven Soderbergh's new film. Black Bag offers Bond-style globe-trotting intrigue and marital dramedy.
Photos: Across the U.S., sky gazers marvel at the blood moon lunar eclipse
As the moon moved through the shadow of the Earth, it was also being illuminated by light from the sun — causing the moon to appear as if dipped in a deep red hue in a stunning celestial sight.
Hamas says it’s willing to release the five American hostages in Gaza
Hamas, the militant group the U.S. has labeled as terrorists, says it's willing to release the one living American hostage and bodies of four others it's held in Gaza since the 2023 attacks in Israel.
Dorothy Thompson: The journalist who warned us about Hitler
Dorothy Thompson saw the rise of Nazi Germany as a foreign correspondent in Berlin. A new series from Radio Diaries tells the story of Thompson's career as a radio broadcaster.
