Overview
- The NYU Langone team transplanted a minimally edited Revivicor pig kidney with the donor pig’s thymus into a 57-year-old brain-dead man, maintaining function for 61 days.
- Multi-omics profiling charted phased immune attacks—innate on day 21, macrophage-driven on day 33, then T cell–mediated on day 45—with blood biomarkers signaling trouble about five days before tissue injury.
- Researchers reversed antibody- and T cell–mediated rejection using plasma exchange, steroids, pegcetacoplan, and a T cell–depleting agent, with kidney function recovering after each intervention.
- The organ carried only the GGAT1/alpha‑gal deletion, and investigators observed new antibodies to unidentified pig antigens, highlighting targets to improve future graft compatibility.
- Authors say the decedent model offers a roadmap for monitoring and treatment in living recipients, with funding secured to test immunosuppression strategies in additional patients and continued attention to safety and ethical questions.