Gravitas | Genetically modified pig kidney keeps man alive for record nine months in US

Around 674 million people worldwide suffer from chronic kidney disease. The wait for a kidney transplant is arduous. Amid this, a positive development has come to light. A genetically modified kidney from a pig kept 66-year-old Tim Andrews alive for a record nine months.

In a paper published in The Lancet journal, physicians at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston detailed Andrews' experience and how kidney transplants from pigs can possibly bridge the gap between end-stage kidney failure and human kidney transplant.

Let's break it down for you.

Andrews was seriously ill with end-stage kidney disease, caused by type two diabetes. According to the research paper, Andrews opted for the pig transplant as he only had a nine per cent chance of receiving a human kidney within five years.

After undergoing the pig kidney transplant in January last year, it worked for a staggering 271 days.

After his kidney was removed in October 2025, Andrews required dialysis for 82 days until January this year, when he received a kidney from a dead donor.

Crucially, this kidney worked well during six months of follow-up. No pig viruses or pathogens were detected at any point.

But why are pigs preferred among other animals for transplant?

This is because pigs' organs are roughly the same size as humans'. It is also important to note that the pig used for transplant underwent 69 genomic modifications to help it dodge viruses that may harm humans.

Andrews' case is seen as a big breakthrough because the first pig kidney transplant into a living person in 2024 ended in failure, as the patient died from unrelated heart problems.

At a time when the wait for a kidney transplant can range anywhere from three to five years, Andrews' case offers a ray of hope, as precious lives can be saved.