Doctors say xenotransplantation could be a “bridge” for patients awaiting human kidneys
Credit: Kate Flock/Massachusetts General Hospital
NEED TO KNOW
- Tim Andrews received a genetically modified pig kidney in a groundbreaking surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital
- The pig kidney functioned for 271 days before Andrews received a human kidney transplant
- Doctors say xenotransplantation could help address the organ shortage by serving as a bridge for patients awaiting human donors
A pig kidney has successfully worked inside a human patient for 271 days, marking the longest time on record, according to doctors.
In January 2025, Tim Andrews, then 66, received a genetically modified pig kidney in a groundbreaking xenotransplantation surgery by a team of Harvard Medical School physician-scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital.
“I was dying,” Andrews recalled to The New York Times in a report published on Thursday, Sept. 3. “I figured, if I’m going to die, I might as well do something for humanity and be part of this experiment.”
Credit: Kate Flock/Massachusetts General Hospital
Andrews lived with the organ for nine months before becoming the first known patient to receive a human donor kidney following a pig kidney transplant. Doctors detailed the milestone in a paper published Thursday, Sept. 3 in The Lancet.
The initial pig kidney was successful for six months before it started failing. It was later removed, Andrews briefly underwent dialysis, and then he received a human kidney from a matching donor in January 2026.
“The organ shortage is the greatest crisis we have right now in transplantation,” Leonardo Riella, lead author and medical director for kidney transplantation at Mass General Brigham, said in a release. “We know that the best treatment option for patients with end-stage kidney disease who have developed renal failure is transplantation, but we simply don’t have enough human organs to transplant in a timely manner.”
Credit: Kate Flock/Massachusetts General Hospital
“Our vision is that xenotransplantation could help address this gap — initially as a bridge to get patients off dialysis while they wait for a human donor kidney, and potentially, as we establish long-term safety and durability, as a destination therapy in its own right,” he said.
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Doctors said that this case shows promise for xenotransplantation to be a “bridge” for patients awaiting human kidneys.
“The patients are the true pioneers here,” Riella said. “By stepping forward and being willing to participate in these early-stage studies, they are advancing the science. Without their trust and courage, we would not be able to do what we do.”
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