Genetically Modified Pig Kidney Keeps Man Alive For Record Nine Months
- Reference: 0185419200
- News link: https://science.slashdot.org/story/26/09/04/0433242/genetically-modified-pig-kidney-keeps-man-alive-for-record-nine-months
- Source link:
> Tim Andrews was seriously ill with end-stage kidney disease caused by type 2 diabetes and had only a 9% chance of receiving a human kidney within five years, against a more than 40% risk of dying or being removed from the waiting list. Kidney transplantation provides the best survival and quality of life for patients with end-stage kidney disease, but global demand for human organs far exceeds supply.
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> Surgeons in the US successfully transplanted a kidney from Wilma, a Yucatan miniature pig, into Andrews, after genetically engineering it to be compatible with his immune system. The kidney kept Andrews free of dialysis for a record nine months, the longest period ever recorded, before it began failing and he received one from a dead human donor. It was also the first time a pig's kidney had been used as a temporary "bridge" to a human transplant.
The breakthrough has been [2]detailed in the journal Lancet .
[1] https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/sep/03/genetically-modified-pig-kidney-keeps-man-alive-record-nine-months
[2] https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(26)01295-X/fulltext
Pretty impressive (Score:1)
That likely means it is possible. May even become generally available in, say, 20 years or so. Of course, in the US, nobody except the rich will be able to afford it.
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And waste even more. I dare you.
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It must kill you cretin that I am still posting at +2. Good.
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> Of course, in the US, nobody except the rich will be able to afford it.
The trend in the past has been that a medical treatment is incredibly expensive when first introduced, then decreases in price as it becomes further down the learning curve, until eventually it's commonplace.
Sure would be nice to be able to get away from requiring human donors.
Now he has an aversion to bacon (Score:3)
Good for that guy and his doctors, though. Now they can squeal a good story.
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Did he get to bring home the rest of the pig? "These bbq ribs came from the same pig as my kidney. Mmmm..."
The value of human lives (Score:2)
Type 2 diabetes caused kidney disease? Could this be millions spent to rescue one American from an American lifestyle induced disease? Meanwhile.. [1]https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/... [harvard.edu]
[1] https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/usaid-shutdown-has-led-to-hundreds-of-thousands-of-deaths/
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Experiments are performed one (1) cuvette at a time. Same with human ailments. Some wealthy sick blokes stick their necks out for an off-chance of success. AND pay for it themselves ! Sounds like a beneficent public service to me. When trials are over -- and more than two (2) surgeons world-wide can perform the operation then all citizens are served. Of-course Trotsky-slut parasites are welcome to volunteer for brain-transplant experiments, where pieces of heart-attack provided C-Suit brai
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“ according .. [1]Atul Gawande [harvard.edu] .. told the story of how one mother living in a Kenyan refugee camp tried to save her severely malnourished daughter after U.S. support dried up. ”
Shame on Gawande and USAID, exploiting a mother and child to get more government freebies.
Lets see what DOGE found out:
$1.5 million for LGBTQ advocacy in Serbia
$47,000 for a “transgender opera” in Colombia
$32,000 for a transgender comic book in Peru
$2 million for sex-change procedures and “
[1] https://hsph.harvard.edu/news/usaid-shutdown-has-led-to-hundreds-of-thousands-of-deaths/
"Is it going to be okay, uncle Lar?" (Score:2)
Was it returned to the pig, then?
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(rim-shot) Is there a rim-shot emoticon?
I wonder if there's a better answer (Score:2)
I wonder if a better answer to the lack of organs suitable for transplant might be to direct more resources toward research into cloning a patient's heart or liver or kidney for subsequent transplant. I realize there's a huge difference between sausages made from vat-grown meat and growing somebody a new kidney, but I just can't get past the advantages at the other end if we figured it out. I'm talking about growing an individual organ, by the way, not cloning a human to be looted for replacement organs.
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There's been attempts to 3d print nutrient lattices to culture the cells into the right shape but it is akin to, say, culturing rose cells as algae and then trying to build a bloom out of the slurry and graft it successfully back onto the bush. Lots of steps that can preclude a working organ in there.
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You wonder whether a speculative technology is better than one that already works partially? Why are you wondering that?
I welcome are new Pig-Human Overlords! (Score:2)
It has been a long time coming, but the time is at hand. We will have our new Pig-Human Overlords to rule us. They will either rule from afar, or take over our bodies by further combining our 2 superior species. All hail the new Pig-Human Overlords!
I know some have been waiting / wanting their new animal totem hybrid humans to be our new Overlords. They are now to be the Pig-Human Overlords! Animal & human hybrids will accomplish everything, you can take my word for it. Pig-Human is the future for us!
Old news (Score:1, Troll)
This bacon sandwich I'm currently eating will keep me alive for the rest of this afternoon. No need for surgery either. Yum.