Alabama Woman Thrives After Groundbreaking Gene-Edited Pig Kidney Transplant

Towana Looney's successful xenotransplant marks progress in addressing the organ donor shortage and offers hope for future clinical trials.

Towana Looney, a 53-year-old Alabama woman, received a kidney from a genetically engineered pig in a highly experimental procedure at NYU Langone Health on November 25, 2024.
Looney, who had spent eight years on dialysis due to kidney failure and an inability to find a human donor match, is recovering well and no longer requires dialysis.
The transplant utilized a pig kidney with 10 genetic edits designed to reduce organ rejection, part of ongoing efforts to address the severe shortage of human donor organs in the U.S.
Previous recipients of pig organs faced complications and did not survive beyond two months, but Looney's relatively better health prior to surgery may improve her long-term prognosis.
The success of this procedure lays the groundwork for formal clinical trials of xenotransplantation, which researchers hope to begin in 2025 to further evaluate the viability of pig organs for human use.