Video: Historic: Man gets world’s first gene-edited pig liver transplant

A man with advanced liver cancer has made history as the first recipient of a liver transplant from a genetically modified pig. According to Chinese doctors, this groundbreaking procedure represents a significant advancement in xenotransplantation, the practice of transplanting animal organs into humans.

On May 24, Anhui Medical University’s First Affiliated Hospital announced on WeChat that a 71-year-old man with liver cancer received the pig liver transplant on May 17. The university stated, “The patient was able to walk freely, showed no signs of hyper-acute or acute rejection, had an unimpaired coagulation system, and his liver function had returned to normal,” as reported by the South China Morning Post.

The pig liver, weighing 514 grams, underwent ten genetic modifications to prevent organ rejection and dysfunction. The transplant was deemed necessary after it was found that the patient’s left liver lobe was failing and not responding to traditional treatments.

Sun Beicheng, the head of the hospital, noted that the transplanted pig liver secretes approximately 200 milliliters of golden bile daily, according to People’s Daily.

This procedure follows another notable achievement in March, when a Chinese team from Air Force Medical University successfully transplanted a gene-edited pig liver into a patient who had experienced brain death.

In the same month, a U.S. patient became the first person globally to receive a kidney transplant from a genetically modified pig. This technique was previously only applied to clinically dead patients. Although the U.S. patient passed away in May, Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston clarified that his death was not related to the transplant.