Surgeons transplant genetically-edited pig kidney into man in groundbreaking procedure

Surgeons in Massachusetts performed a transplant of a genetically-edited pig kidney into a 62-year-old man with late-stage kidney disease in what medical professionals are calling the first-ever successful procedure.

Massachusetts General Hospital, the Harvard Medical School teaching hospital, announced Thursday that its surgeons successfully performed the groundbreaking procedure.

The pig kidney, which had 69 genomic edits, came from biotech company eGenesis. The surgery took place over four hours on March 16. 

The patient, identified as Richard ‘Rick’ Slayman of Weymouth, Mass., is recovering and expected to be discharged shortly. He previously received a kidney transplant in December 2018 from a human donor, and he agreed to a transplant from a pig after his transplanted kidney started failing in 2023.

"The real hero today is the patient, Mr. Slayman, as the success of this pioneering surgery, once deemed unimaginable, would not have been possible without his courage and willingness to embark on a journey into uncharted medical territory," said Dr. Joren Madesen, the director of the hospital's transplant center.

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