Holy sow! Surgeons transplant a kidney from a CRISPR gene-edited pig into a living patient

From here:

Surgeons perform first xenotransplant using CRISPR'd pig kidney - STAT (statnews.com)

“In a new test of xenotransplantation, a medical team at Massachusetts General Hospital announced Thursday that, for the first time, it had transplanted a kidney from a CRISPR gene-edited pig into a living patient.

Surgeons performed the milestone procedure over four hours on Saturday, March 16, without complications. The organ recipient, a 62-year-old man named Richard Slayman, had previously received a human kidney transplant, but it failed after about five years, requiring him to resume kidney dialysis in 2023.

As of Thursday morning, Slayman, a manager with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, was up and walking — he’s up to 20 laps a day around the ward — one of his physicians told STAT. His kidneys are performing well enough that he hasn’t received dialysis since the surgery, said Leonardo Riella, MGH’s medical director for kidney transplants. He is expected to be discharged soon.”

Time covered the story here:

A Man Has Received the First Pig-Kidney Transplant | TIME

“Dr. Tatsuo Kawai, director of the Massachusetts General Hospital’s Legorreta Center for Clinical Transplant Tolerance … “

“The size of the pig kidney was exactly the same as the human kidney,” Kawai said during the briefing. “Upon restoration of blood flow into the kidney, the kidney pinked up immediately and started to make urine. When we saw the first urine output, everyone in the operating room burst into applause. It was truly the most beautiful kidney I have ever seen.”

“Several genetic innovations over the past few decades made such a feat possible. The pigs’ cells were treated with the gene-editing technology CRISPR, which allows scientists to make very precise genetic changes in cells. These CRISPR-ed cells were then used to create pig clones so the pigs would have identical and consistent genetic changes. Their kidneys were then transplanted first into primates, and finally into Slayman.”

“All told, the pig kidneys contained 69 genetic changes in three major categories. The scientists knocked out or eliminated three pig genes that trigger immediate rejection by the human immune system, added seven human genes to make the pig tissue appear more human to the immune cells, and inactivated viral genes in pig cells that could cause infections.

They also used a unique cocktail of antibody treatments to further dampen the immune reaction and give the transplanted kidney the best chance of surviving in the patient.”

“The Mass General Brigham team hopes to perform more of these transplants to get a better idea of how long the pig kidneys can function and whether they can meaningfully extend the length and quality of patients' lives.”

““We never anticipated dialysis would become a lifelong solution for kidney failure,” said Dr. Leonardo Riella, medial director of kidney transplantation at Mass General Brigham and lead investigator of the trial.

“Yet this is the stark reality for over 600,000 patients in the U.S.; dialysis has sadly become their last resort for managing their disease. Now picture a different narrative, one where healthy kidneys are readily available for transplantation. Today we are offering a glimmer of hope that may one day be possible for many more patients.”

Best of luck to Richard Slayman.

Onwards!

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