{"id":5991,"date":"2024-05-12T14:21:55","date_gmt":"2024-05-12T14:21:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=5991"},"modified":"2024-05-12T14:25:31","modified_gmt":"2024-05-12T14:25:31","slug":"patient-dies-weeks-after-kidney-transplant-from-genetically-modified-pig","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/?p=5991","title":{"rendered":"Patient Dies Weeks After Kidney Transplant From Genetically Modified Pig"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Richard Slayman received the historic procedure in March. The hospital said it had \u201cno indication\u201d his death was related to the transplant.<\/p>\n

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Richard \u201cRick\u201d Slayman, who made history at age 62 as the first person to receive a kidney<\/a> from a genetically modified pig, has died about two months after the procedure.<\/p>\n

Massachusetts General Hospital, where Mr. Slayman had the operation, said in a statement<\/a> on Saturday that its transplant team was \u201cdeeply saddened\u201d at his death. The hospital said it had \u201cno indication that it was the result of his recent transplant.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Slayman, who was Black, had end-stage kidney disease, a condition that affects more than 800,000 people in the United States, according to the federal government, with disproportionately higher rates<\/a> among Black people.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Surgeons performing the world\u2019s first kidney transplant from a genetically modified pig into a living human in March.<\/span>Michelle Rose\/Massachusetts General Hospital, via Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty Images<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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There are far too few kidneys available for donation. Nearly 90,000 people are on the national waiting list<\/a> for a kidney.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Mr. Slayman, a supervisor for the state transportation department from Weymouth, Mass., had received a human kidney in 2018. When it began to fail in 2023<\/a> and he developed congestive heart failure, his doctors suggested he try one from a modified pig.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw it not only as a way to help me, but a way to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,\u201d he said in a hospital news release<\/a> in March.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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His surgery, which lasted four hours, was a medical milestone. For decades, proponents of so-called xenotransplantation have proposed replacing ailing human organs with those from animals. The main problem with the approach is the human immune system, which rejects animal tissue as foreign, often leading to serious complications.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Recent advances in genetic engineering have allowed researchers to tweak the genes of the animal organs to make them more compatible with their recipients.<\/p>\n

The pig kidney that was transplanted into Mr. Slayman was engineered by eGenesis, a biotech company based in Cambridge, Mass. Scientists there removed three genes and added seven others to improve compatibility. The company also inactivated retroviruses that pigs carry and could be harmful to humans.<\/p>\n

\u201cMr. Slayman was a true pioneer,\u201d eGenesis said in a statement<\/a> on social media on Saturday. \u201cHis courage has helped to forge a path forward for current and future patients suffering from kidney failure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mr. Slayman was discharged from the hospital two weeks after his surgery, with \u201cone of the cleanest bills of health I\u2019ve had in a long time,\u201d he said<\/a> at the time.<\/p>\n

In a statement published by the hospital, Mr. Slayman\u2019s family said he was kind, quick-witted and \u201cfiercely dedicated to his family, friends and co-workers.\u201d They said they had taken great comfort in knowing that his case had inspired so many people.<\/p>\n

\u201cMillions of people worldwide have come to know Rick\u2019s story,\u201d they said in the statement. \u201cWe felt \u2014 and still feel \u2014 comforted by the optimism he provided patients desperately waiting for a transplant.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Richard Slayman received the historic procedure in March. The hospital said it had \u201cno indication\u201d his death was related to the transplant.Richard \u201cRick\u201d Slayman, who made history at age 62 as the first person to receive a kidney from a genetically modified pig, has died about two months after the procedure.Massachusetts General Hospital, where Mr. Slayman had the operation, said in a statement on Saturday that its transplant team was \u201cdeeply saddened\u201d at his death. The hospital said it had \u201cno indication that it was the result of his recent transplant.\u201dMr. Slayman, who was Black, had end-stage kidney disease, a condition that affects more than 800,000 people in the United States, according to the federal government, with disproportionately higher rates among Black people.Surgeons performing the world\u2019s first kidney transplant from a genetically modified pig into a living human in March.Michelle Rose\/Massachusetts General Hospital, via Agence France-Presse \u2014 Getty ImagesThere are far too few kidneys available for donation. Nearly 90,000 people are on the national waiting list for a kidney.Mr. Slayman, a supervisor for the state transportation department from Weymouth, Mass., had received a human kidney in 2018. When it began to fail in 2023 and he developed congestive heart failure, his doctors suggested he try one from a modified pig.\u201cI saw it not only as a way to help me, but a way to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,\u201d he said in a hospital news release in March.His surgery, which lasted four hours, was a medical milestone. For decades, proponents of so-called xenotransplantation have proposed replacing ailing human organs with those from animals. The main problem with the approach is the human immune system, which rejects animal tissue as foreign, often leading to serious complications.Recent advances in genetic engineering have allowed researchers to tweak the genes of the animal organs to make them more compatible with their recipients.The pig kidney that was transplanted into Mr. Slayman was engineered by eGenesis, a biotech company based in Cambridge, Mass. Scientists there removed three genes and added seven others to improve compatibility. The company also inactivated retroviruses that pigs carry and could be harmful to humans.\u201cMr. Slayman was a true pioneer,\u201d eGenesis said in a statement on social media on Saturday. \u201cHis courage has helped to forge a path forward for current and future patients suffering from kidney failure.\u201dMr. Slayman was discharged from the hospital two weeks after his surgery, with \u201cone of the cleanest bills of health I\u2019ve had in a long time,\u201d he said at the time.In a statement published by the hospital, Mr. Slayman\u2019s family said he was kind, quick-witted and \u201cfiercely dedicated to his family, friends and co-workers.\u201d They said they had taken great comfort in knowing that his case had inspired so many people.\u201cMillions of people worldwide have come to know Rick\u2019s story,\u201d they said in the statement. \u201cWe felt \u2014 and still feel \u2014 comforted by the optimism he provided patients desperately waiting for a transplant.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5993,"comment_status":"close","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5991","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5991","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5991"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5991\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5994,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5991\/revisions\/5994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/5993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5991"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5991"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/medexperts.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5991"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}