US researchers transplant modified pig kidney into human body, the results are astonishing

Kidney of a pig transplanted into a brain-dead person worked normally for two months, India Today reported on Friday. The experiment conducted at the NYU Langone Health has given hope for human-animal transplants.

The team led by Dr. Robert Montgomery, a transplant surgeon, ended their research earlier this week by removing the pig’s kidney. The medical centre then returned the body of Maurice ‘Mo’ Miller to his family for his final rites.

This experiment has created a record for the longest duration a modified pig kidney has even worked inside a human body.

The team led by Dr. Montgomery has learned some crucial insights which they are now preparing to share with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). They hope that eventually they will be allowed to carry experiments on living patients.

Dr. Montgomery himself had a heart transplant and believes that the animal-human transplants can help in solving the current issue of organ shortage in the United States.

The country currently has more than 100,000 people on its organ waiting list.

For the experiment, Miller’s body was put on a ventilator for two months as the research monitored the functioning of the kidney.

Moss Miller, 57, had collapsed and was declared brain-dead. He could also not become an organ donor as he was a cancer patient. The decision to donate his body for the experiment was taken by his sister, Mary Miller-Duffy.

Doctors transplanted the modified kidney and thymus gland of a pig into Miller’s body on July 14, days before his 58th birthday. Thymus gland was transplanted as it helps in training the immune cells of the body.

During the first month, the kidney worked normally without any issue, however, the doctors noticed that there was a decrease in urine production signalling towards a rejection by the body. But the issue was resolved easily with the help of some immune system suppressing medicines.

Previous attempts of animal-to-human transplantation have ended in a failure due to the human body’s tendency of immediately destroying the animal tissue. But this experiment has provided hope as the research team decided to use the modified kidney of a pig which has more human-like organs compared to other animals.

After the completion, the team led by Dr. Montgomery will now examine 180 tissue samples taken from all major organs, lymph nodes and the digestive tract for any issues that may have arisen due to the xenotransplant (animal-to-human transplant).

The ultimate aim of this research is to give a second life to those patients who die just because of the organ shortage.