This week celebrates a new milestone with the first pig to human kidney organ transplant still working after 60 days. This sets a new record for the longest functioning pig or animal transplant in a person ever.
Is this the first pig to person Transplant?
No, but it sets the record for the longest living person with a working pig transplant in the United States (U.S.) surpassing a record 60-day milestone on February 1, 2025, following her November 25, 2024, transplant.
The record is proudly held by Towana Looney, a native of Alabama whose pig transplant was performed successfully by a team of surgeons at New York University Hospital (NYU), in New York City. “It is a new take on life,” she says, “I am superwoman!” Her doctors add, “this is the first time we have gotten this far.” She is the 4th person to receive a pig organ transplant, the others (2 hearts and 2 kidneys-one received both) unfortunately died before reaching the 60-day post-transplant milestone.
Her doctors report that she suffered one episode of mild rejection of the pig kidney where the body makes antibodies (protective proteins by your immune system) against the pig kidney but were able to treat with anti-rejection medications.
Why is the Pig kidney working so well?
Doctors at NYU say the pig kidney transplant is working well because Towana Looney is a lot healthier than the other patients who got kidney and heart transplants in the past.
Towana donated her own kidney to her mother many years ago, later due to a complications of her own pregnancy from high blood pressure damaging her one remaining kidney which eventually failed forcing her on dialysis (procedure done 3 times a week to clean the blood) for 8 years-and due to super high level of “antibodies” to any human donor kidney, the pig kidney was her last hope of getting enough kidney function to stop dialysis.
Why are pigs used specifically for organ donation?
Scientists are able to genetically alter pigs more than other animals, so their organs are more human like to address the severe shortage of transplantable organs. More than a 100,000 people in the U.S. are waiting transplant, mostly those for kidneys, and many die waiting.
Pigs are allowed out of “compassionate,” use by the FDA (Federal Drug Administration) only in special cases like Towana when people run out of options for human organs. Few hospitals perform pig to human transplant surgery and are currently sharing information on what works and what does not to help each other. Different companies also manufacture the pig kidneys and the one for Towana was made by United Therapeutics. Her pig kidney was approved by the FDA as part of an experimental trial.
How long will the pig kidney last?
There is no way of knowing and Tawana and her medical team will take it day by day. If the pig kidney fails, she will need to go back on dialysis. The doctors at NYU, “need to keep a close eye on her,” “but for now she is living life to the fullest and if you saw her on the street, you will have no idea that she’s the only person in the world walking around with a pig organ inside of them.”
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