Pig kidney transplanted into human in US

The first clinical trial is getting underway in the U.S. to see if transplanting pig kidneys into people might really save lives, Euronews writes.

United Therapeutics, a producer of gene-edited pig kidneys, announced Monday that the study’s initial transplant was performed successfully at NYU Langone Health, a medical center in New York City.

A second US company, eGenesis, is preparing to begin its own pig kidney clinical trial in the coming months.

To protect the study participant’s identity, researchers aren’t releasing information about when the NYU surgery was performed or further patient information.

NYU’s Dr Robert Montgomery, who led the transplant team, said that his hospital has a list of other patients interested in joining the small trial, which will initially include six people. If all goes well, it could be expanded to up to 50 as additional transplant centers join.