An American man has received a kidney from a pig in what is believed to be a world first.
Rick Slayman received the organ in an operation in Massachusetts. The pig had been genetically modified to reduce the risk of a human body rejecting the organ.
Slayman had received a human kidney in 2018 after his own kidneys had failed, but the transplant ultimately failed, meaning that Slayman had to receive a new organ.
Slayman was quoted as saying: ‘I saw it not only as a way to help me, but a way to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive.’
Humans have received pig hearts in the past, but this is believed to be the first time a pig kidney has been placed into a human. Pig kidneys have also been transplanted into brain-dead humans to see if they would be suitable.
There is a chronic shortage of available human organs for transplant. This could be a breakthrough which helps large numbers of people in future.
Pigs are able to be used as organ donors, as pig organs are generally similar in size to human organs.