First Recipient of Genetically Modified Pig Kidney Dies After Transplant

Published: 12 May 2024 at 03:09

Health

Richard Rick Slayman, aged 62, passed away almost two months after receiving a genetically modified pig kidney transplant at Massachusetts General Hospital. The transplant team expressed sadness but stated there was no indication his death was a result of the procedure. Slayman, who had a previous kidney transplant in 2018, turned to a pig kidney transplant after complications on dialysis. His family thanked the doctors for their efforts, highlighting the hope his procedure provided for those in need of transplants.

DEEP DIVE

US man gets pig kidney in groundbreaking transplant

Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston successfully transplanted a genetically modified pig kidney into Richard Slayman, the first such procedure. Slayman, 62, with end-stage renal failure, is recovering well. The surgery sparks hope for xenotransplantation to address organ shortages. Previous temporary pig kidney transplants were done, and vaping is linked to cancer risk. Slayman's surgery is a milestone, deemed a heroic act, with potential to help many others needing transplants. Researchers have worked on pig genetic modifications since the early 2000s.

Medical First: Man Receives Successful Genetically Modified Pig Kidney Transplant

In a historic medical breakthrough, a 62-year-old man from Weymouth, Massachusetts, named Richard "Rick" Slayman, has been discharged from Massachusetts General Hospital after a successful kidney transplant using a genetically modified pig kidney. The pig kidney was modified by eGenesis to improve compatibility with humans by removing harmful pig genes and adding certain human genes. This milestone has the potential to revolutionize organ transplantation and offers hope for those in need of transplants to survive.

First-ever genetically modified pig kidney transplant into a human

A 62-year-old man received a genetically modified pig kidney transplant at Massachusetts General Hospital, marking a significant step in organ transplantation advancements. The patient, Richard Slayman, who suffers from end-stage kidney disease, underwent a successful four-hour surgery. Experts believe that utilizing animal organs could address the organ shortage crisis, potentially improving patient outcomes. The genetically edited pig kidney, designed to be more compatible with humans, is already functioning in the recipient and showing promising results.

Xenotransplantation (Wikipedia)

Xenotransplantation (xenos- from the Greek meaning "foreign" or strange), or heterologous transplant, is the transplantation of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another. Such cells, tissues or organs are called xenografts or xenotransplants. It is contrasted with allotransplantation (from other individual of same species), syngeneic transplantation or isotransplantation (grafts transplanted between two genetically identical individuals of the same species) and autotransplantation (from one part of the body to another in the same person). Xenotransplantation is an artificial method of creating an animal-human chimera, that is, a human with a subset of animal cells. In contrast, an individual where each cell contains genetic material from a human and an animal is called a human–animal hybrid.Patient derived xenografts are created by xenotransplantation of human tumor cells into immunocompromised mice, and is a research technique frequently used in pre-clinical oncology research.Human xenotransplantation offers a potential treatment for end-stage organ failure, a significant health problem in parts of the industrialized world. It also raises many novel medical, legal and ethical issues. A continuing concern is that many animals, such as pigs, have a shorter lifespan than humans, meaning that their tissues age at a quicker rate. (Pigs have a maximum life span of about 27 years.) Disease transmission (xenozoonosis) and permanent alteration to the genetic code of animals are also causes for concern. Similarly to objections to animal testing, animal rights activists have also objected to xenotransplantation on ethical grounds. A few temporarily successful cases of xenotransplantation are published.It is common for patients and physicians to use the term "allograft" imprecisely to refer to either allograft (human-to-human) or xenograft (animal-to-human), but it is helpful scientifically (for those searching or reading the scientific literature) to maintain the more precise distinction in usage.Bioprosthetic artificial heart valves are generally pig or bovine-derived, but the cells are killed by glutaraldehyde treatment before insertion, therefore technically not fulfilling the WHO definition of xenotransplantation of being live cells.

Carolyn Slayman (Wikipedia)

Carolyn Walch Slayman (1937–2016) was an American geneticist. She was on the faculty of the Yale School of Medicine, where she was appointed Sterling Professor in 1991.On March 11, 1937, she was born in Portland, ME and would become the first scientist in her family. In 1958, she graduated from Swarthmore College with highest honors in biology and chemistry and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She began graduate school at Johns Hopkins University to study biochemistry but transferred to Rockefeller University in 1959 where she was the only woman in her class. In 1963, she earned her doctorate in biochemical genetics. She was a postdoctoral fellow in membrane biochemistry at Cambridge University. After a short time stint as an assistant professor at Case Western Reserve, she joined the Yale departments of microbiology and physiology in 1967.At Yale, she became a pioneer in genetics and a leader on campus. She helped to establish the graduate program in the Department of Human Genetics in 1972 and served as director of graduate studies in genetics from 1972 to 1984. In 1984, she was made Chair of the Department of Genetics, becoming the first woman to head a department in the medical school. Seven years later, she became on the second woman to be named a Sterling Professor. Her appointment was in the Department of Genetics. In 1995, she was appointed deputy dean for academic and scientific affairs of the Yale School of Medicine. As deputy dean, she oversaw academic and scientific affairs at the school with special attention to faculty recruitment and development in addition to the creation and advancement of research programs and core facilities. She served as deputy dean until her passing in 2016.