Key Takeaways
A pig kidney was removed from a woman after 130 days due to rejection
This is the longest a genetically modified pig kidney has lasted in a human
This is still progress in animal-to-human transplants, doctors say
TUESDAY, April 15, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Doctors have removed a genetically modified pig's kidney from an Alabama woman after her body rejected the organ, NYU Langone Health reported.
Towana Looney, 53, had the transplanted organ for 130 days — the longest anyone has ever tolerated an organ from a genetically altered pig. She has now started dialysis again, the hospital reported.
Dr. Robert Montgomery, who performed the transplant, said removal of the kidney — also called an "explant" — is not a step backward in the field of xenotransplantation (the use of animal organs in humans).
"This is the longest one of these organs has lasted," Montgomery, who leads the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, told The New York Times.
“All this takes time,” he added. “This game is going to be won by incremental improvements, singles and doubles, not trying to swing for the fences and get a home run.”
Looney, who had traveled to New York from Alabama for the procedure, had other medical conditions that may have affected her outcome.
Doctors said more treatment might have saved the organ, but Looney and her team decided not to pursue further immunosuppressive medications.
“No. 1 is safety — we needed to be sure that she was going to be OK,” Montgomery said.
“For the first time since 2016, I enjoyed time with friends and family without planning around dialysis treatments,” Looney said in a statement.
“Though the outcome is not what anyone wanted, I know a lot was learned from my 130 days with a pig kidney — and that this can help and inspire many others in their journey to overcome kidney disease,” she added.
Looney began to show signs of trouble when blood tests revealed high levels of creatinine, a waste product that kidneys usually remove from the body.
Looney was admitted to a hospital in Alabama, then flew to New York where doctors found evidence of rejection. The kidney was removed Friday, The Times said.
United Therapeutics Corporation, the biotech company that created the pig used in the transplant, said the organ had functioned well until the rejection occurred.
The company praised Looney's bravery and said it plans to start a clinical trial of pig-kidney transplantation later this year. It will begin with six patients and grow to 50.
Pig organs are being studied as a possible answer to the shortage of donated human organs.
Right now, more than 550,000 people in the U.S. have kidney failure and rely on dialysis, and about 100,000 are on the transplant waiting list. Fewer than 25,000 kidney transplants were done last year, The Times said.
More information
The National Kidney Foundation has more on xenotransplantation.
SOURCE: The New York Times, April 11, 2025
What This Means For You
While the transplant didn't last, Towana Looney's treatment brings researchers one step closer to using animal organs to help people with kidney failure.
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