Grandmother Becomes Second Patient to Receive Kidney From Gene-Edited Pig

A 54-year-old woman with heart and kidney failure received a genetically modified pig kidney in a transplant at NYU Langone Health in New York. This is the second person to receive a kidney from a genetically engineered pig. The surgery took place just eight days after the patient received a mechanical heart pump. The pig provided by a biotech company had a gene blocked to reduce the risk of an immune reaction. The surgeons also placed the pig’s thymus gland under the transplanted kidney to reduce rejection.