Towana Looney, 53, received a genetically modified pig kidney last month, marking a significant advancement in xenotransplantation. The surgery, which freed her from eight years of dialysis, is considered a crucial step towards formal studies expected to begin next year. Looney's recovery is progressing well, and while the pig kidney could potentially fail, it offers a beacon of hope for the thousands awaiting kidney transplants.
last month that freed her from eight years of dialysis, the latest effort to save human lives with animal organs.
Pig kidney recipient Towana Looney stands with transplant surgeons Dr. Jayme Locke, left, now of the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration and Dr. Robert Montgomery of NYU Langone Health, center, on Dec. 10, 2024, at NYU Langone Health, in New York City. Looney is recuperating well after her transplant, which was announced Tuesday.
Looney donated a kidney to her mother in 1999. Later a complication during pregnancy caused high blood pressure that damaged her remaining kidney, which eventually failed. It’s incredibly rare for living donors to develop kidney failure although those who do are given extra priority on the transplant list.
Those disappointing outcomes didn’t dissuade Looney, who was starting to feel worse on dialysis but, Locke said, hadn’t developed heart disease or other complications. The FDA eventually allowed her transplant at NYU, where Locke collaborated with Montgomery.
Xenotransplantation Organ Transplant Kidney Failure Pig Kidney Medical Breakthrough
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