Overview

• Surgeons at Guangzhou Medical University transplanted a left lung from a six‑gene CRISPR‑edited pig into a 39‑year‑old brain‑dead man and observed the graft for 216 hours.
• No hyperacute rejection or infection was detected during monitoring, but severe pulmonary edema emerged at 24 hours, consistent with ischemia–reperfusion injury.
• Antibody‑mediated rejection contributed to damage on days three and six, followed by partial functional recovery by day nine.
• The recipient’s native right lung remained in place, complicating functional assessment, and the care team used intensive immunosuppression with steroid adjustments.
• Independent experts said the work shows feasibility yet requires further preclinical studies given the lung’s unique infection vulnerability and uncertain outcomes in living patients.