MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:
For the first time, genetically modified pig kidneys have kept patients alive long enough to receive human organ transplants. NPR's Rob Stein reports.
ROB STEIN, BYLINE: Tim Andrews' kidneys had failed. And despite dialysis, his doctors told him he'd probably die before he could get a transplant.
TIM ANDREWS: As it went on, I got sicker and sicker. And I was told, you know, it could be less than a year now, so get your paperwork ready and all that stuff. Well, that's the end, right? There's no options.
STEIN: But then Andrews, who lives in New Hampshire, heard that surgeons in Boston were testing pig kidneys that had been genetically modified to work in people to help alleviate the shortage of organs. So he volunteered for the research, even though he figured it may not help him much.
ANDREWS: I thought, well, if I can do something for humanity on my way out, why not? Going to die anyways.
STEIN: So the 66-year-old got a modified pig kidney in January of 2025 and almost immediately felt much better.
ANDREWS: I could walk around. I wasn't tied to a machine. I wasn't dead tired. So for me, it was beautiful.
STEIN: But after about nine months, the pig kidney, which Andrews nicknamed Wilma, failed.
ANDREWS: Then they removed Wilma, and I went back on dialysis. And I almost instantly became sick again.
STEIN: Andrews thought he had reached the end. But three months later, his doctors found a human kidney for him, and he's been feeling great again since getting it last year.
ANDREWS: I swim. I ride my bike. I enjoy life (laughter). Awesome. It's fantastic. She saved my life. She was the bridge so that I didn't die, so I got to the human kidney.
STEIN: EGenesis, the biotech company developing the pig organs, says another patient was kept alive with a pig kidney long enough to get a human kidney, too. Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin of the University of Maryland studies transplanting animal organs into people. He wasn't involved in the research, but he says it's encouraging.
MUHAMMAD MOHIUDDIN: While we are working toward using this organ as destination therapy, the immediate need is to provide enough survival of the patient so they can get a chance to get a human organ. And that's exactly what has happened in these patients.
STEIN: Now, the biotech company says much more testing is needed but hopes to make the genetically modified pig kidneys widely available within about four years,
Rob Stein, NPR News.
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