A new medical venture was undertaken by surgeons in Boston who transplanted a kidney from a genetically modified pig into a 62-year-old male patient for the first time.

According to the New York Times, if the operation is deemed successful, then this venture gives hope to hundreds of thousands of American patients who face kidney failure and need a transplant. So far, signs are particularly encouraging after the new kidney began producing urine shortly after surgery last weekend, and the patient’s condition continues to improve, according to doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital, known as Mass General. Already the patient is out of bed and walking and may be discharged soon.

The patient is black and the procedure may have particular significance for black patientswho suffer from high rates of end-stage renal disease.

A new source of kidneys “could solve an intractable problem in the field—minority patients’ inadequate access to kidney transplants”reported to New York Times, Dr Winfred Williamshead of the nephrology department at Mass General and the patient’s primary nephrologist.

THE transplant patient in Bostonnamed Richard “Rick” Schleiman suffered from diabetes and hypertension for many years and was treated at Mass General for over a decade.

After his kidneys failed, Mr. Schleiman had been on dialysis for seven years, and finally received a human kidney in 2018. But the organ he received stopped working after five years, resulting in new complications for the patient. When the patient resumed dialysis in 2023, he experienced severe vascular complications. Mr. Sleiman continued to work despite his health problems and re-entered the waiting list for a human kidneyuntil he “desperate”, as his doctor said.

“He would have to wait five to six years for a human kidney. He couldn’t survive it”added Dr. Williams.

If kidneys from genetically modified animals can be transplanted on a large scale, hemodialysis “will become obsolete”said Dr. Leonardo V. Riella, medical director for kidney transplantation at Mass General.

Over 800,000 Americans have kidney failure and need dialysis. More than 100,000 are on a waiting list to receive a kidney transplant from a living or deceased human donor.

Furthermore, tens of millions of Americans have chronic kidney diseasewhich can lead to organ failure.

Recent years, scientific advances including gene editing and cloning have brought xenografts closer to realitymaking it possible to modify animal genes to make organs more compatible and less likely to be rejected by the immune system.

In September 2021, surgeons at NYU Langone Health in New York attached a kidney from a genetically modified pig to a brain-dead man. The kidney began to function by producing urine. Not long after, scientists at the University of Alabama at Birmingham announced that they had performed a similar procedure with similar results.