Man Has Pig Kidney Removed After Living With It for a Record 9 Months

With the demand for human donor organs desperately outstripping supply, scientists are working to see if genetically edited pig organs can bridge the gap. Leonardo Riella, medical director for kidney transplantation at Massachusetts General Hospital, checks on Tim Andrews after his pig kidney transplant. Surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital have removed a genetically engineered pig kidney from a 67-year-old New Hampshire man after a period of decreasing kidney function, the hospital confirmed to WIRED in a statement. The organ functioned for nearly nine months, longer than previous pig organ transplants, before it was removed on October 23. Tim Andrews received the pig kidney on January 25 after being on dialysis for more than two years due to end-stage kidney disease.