Doctors in China say they transplanted a genetically modified pig liver into a 71-year-old man who lived 171 days after the procedure, and 38 of those days were with the pig organ in place – a first to be published in a peer-reviewed journal
https://edition.cnn.com/2025/10/09/health/pig-liver-transplant-china
4 Comments
The study reports the first peer-reviewed case of a genetically modified pig liver supporting a human for more than a month. It marks a major step in xenotransplantation and challenges the view that the liver is too complex for cross-species use. With advances in gene editing, pig organs may one day serve as temporary or permanent support for patients waiting for human donors. This could ease the global shortage of transplant organs and shape the future of liver treatment by opening new possibilities for bridging therapy, regeneration and long-term care.
if we master xenotransplants, we could make a human enough uterus in a donor animal and would get a selfsustaining artifical womb
Hurry up already with that pig liver, I want to drink more without worrying. Jk. If people manage to fully figure out how to make the organs compatible so you don’t need immunosupressants then great.
While the opportunity and merits for xenotransplantation are too big to ignore, the risks are also uncomfortably heavy. The novel Never Let Me Go highlights this in an extreme way.