Macaque survives over a year after pig kidney transplant in China

WUHAN -- Chinese scientists have announced a major breakthrough in the field of xenotransplantation, reporting that a gene-edited pig kidney has been functioning successfully in a macaque for over a year.

The achievement was announced on Thursday by researchers from a hospital affiliated with Tongji Medical College at the Huazhong University of Science and Technology.

The experiment, led by professor Chen Gang from the hospital's institute of organ transplantation, demonstrates China's advancement to the international forefront of this pioneering research area. Its results provide a solid scientific basis to move forward with clinical studies in xenotransplantation.

Prior to this achievement, research teams in the United States had also successfully developed gene-edited donor pigs enabling organ survival in primates for over a year.

Wang Changxi, a member of the Chinese Society of Organ Transplantation under the Chinese Medical Association, noted that the breakthrough has positioned the country as a leader in the field.

Xenotransplantation, which seeks to address the critical shortage of human organs, often uses pigs as ideal donors due to their physiological similarities to humans, and due to fewer ethical concerns in the practice of gene-editing in pigs than in humans. The primary challenge, however, remains overcoming intense immune rejection across species.

Chen's team has been working on this challenge since conducting China's earliest animal xenotransplantation experiment in 1999.

To overcome the primary obstacle of porcine cytomegalovirus, which is a common virus in gene-edited pigs that often fuels rejection, the team sourced specific pathogen-free "clean pigs" to eliminate the danger at the source.

To solve the challenge of precise immunosuppression, the team devised a comprehensive drug protocol. This approach allowed for precise dosage adjustments, maintaining a crucial balance between preventing rejection and avoiding dangerous infections.

It is estimated that approximately 2 million people worldwide need an organ transplant each year, yet only about 10 percent of patients get that chance.

"For end-stage patients when no organs are available, xenotransplantation is a beacon of hope for life extension," Chen said.