A 53-year-old woman from Alabama, USA, named Towana Looney received a pig kidney transplant that saved her from eight years of dialysis.
She is currently doing well and is under observation, according to medical reports.
Looney is the fifth American to be given a gene-edited pig organ, and notably, her response to the procedure has been more positive than that of previous recipients who passed away within two months of receiving a pig kidney or heart.
Looney told the Associated Press, “It is like a new beginning. The energy I had was amazing. To have a working kidney and feel it is unbelievable.”
She expressed gratitude for her new transplant organ, which has brought relief and hope to her life.
Dr Robert Montgomery of New York University Langone Health led this highly experimental procedure.
He noted that Looney’s surgery marks an important step as scientists prepare for formal studies on xenotransplantation, which involves using animal organs for transplants.
Over 100,000 people are on the US transplant list, most of whom need kidneys.
Thousands die waiting, and many others who need a transplant never qualify.
Scientific Breakthrough
As a result, scientists are genetically altering pigs to make their organs more compatible with humans.
According to CBS News chief medical correspondent Prof Jon Lapook, the research has been ongoing for decades and is likely to help others needing organs.
He explained that they made about ten gene edits to make the pig kidney more compatible with humans.
“They put it in, and it is working,” said Lapook on CBS Morning Plus on December 17.
Looney, who benefited from this innovation, showed positive signs and was discharged from the hospital 11 days after her surgery.
While under observation, she is continuing her recovery in a nearby apartment and is expected to return to Alabama in three months.
If the pig kidney transplant fails, she will go back to dialysis.
Looney’s kidney health issues date back to 1999 when she donated one of her kidneys to her mother.
She faced complications during her pregnancy that led to high blood pressure and damaged her remaining kidney.
It is rare for kidney donors to develop kidney failure, and those who do are usually given priority on the transplant list.
Unfortunately, Looney couldn’t find a suitable match and developed antibodies that attack other human kidneys.
“She ended up being on dialysis for the last eight years and on the renal transplant list for seven years, but she had unusual antibodies that made her a poor candidate for 99.99% of potential donors,” explained Lapook.
A Leap of Faith
When Looney learned about pig kidney research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, she decided to try it.
In 2023, she applied for an emergency experiment under regulations for people like her who have no options left.
Initially, the FDA did not approve right away. Instead, the first gene-edited pig kidney transplant went to two patients with serious heart disease.
One of those patients recovered and spent a month at home before dying from sudden cardiac arrest unrelated to the pig kidney.
The second patient had heart complications that damaged her pig kidney, leading to its removal, and she later passed away.
Although two individuals died from heart disease after receiving pig kidney transplants unrelated to the organs, Looney remained determined, especially as she felt increasingly worse on dialysis.
She eventually received her transplant at NYU.
Looney speaks with hope and is grateful for the opportunity to try this new procedure.
“You don’t know if it’s going to work or not until you try.”
The kidney provided to Looney was sourced from a pig with 10 gene alterations, produced by Blacksburg, Virginia-based Revivicor.
Moments after Dr. Montgomery sewed the kidney into place, it turned a healthy pink and began producing urine.
