A Black woman from Alabama who had been on dialysis for several years is recovering well after a groundbreaking medical procedure involving a pig’s organ, according to the doctors who performed the surgery.
After a successful surgery at NYU Langone Health in New York City, Towana Looney made history as the only person in the world currently living with a pig organ.
Doctors at NYU Langone Health said the gene-edited pig kidney transplant was necessary because Looney had been suffering from kidney failure and on dialysis for eight years.
The 53-year-old is now recovering well, according to a press release from the medical center. She was briefly readmitted to adjust her medications, news sources reported.
“It’s a blessing,” Looney said. “I feel like I’ve been given another chance at life. I cannot wait to be able to travel again and spend more quality time with my family and grandchildren.”
The pig kidney used in her transplant had undergone 10 genetic modifications to make it compatible with human recipients, the press release stated. This procedure, known as xenotransplantation, is still experimental but has shown promising results.
Looney’s successful transplant offers hope for many others on the organ transplant waiting list and represents a significant step forward in medical science, medical experts opined. Her case is only the third in the world where a gene-edited pig kidney has been transplanted into a human.
RELATED: Why Black Americans Are Waiting Longer for a Kidney Transplant
Looney’s road to kidney failure
Looney’s story, detailing what led to her kidney failure, was highlighted in the hospital’s news section in December.
Her journey to becoming a medical pioneer began in 1999 when she selflessly donated a kidney to her mother. However, Looney experienced unforeseen consequences.
Several years later, a complication during pregnancy caused severe high blood pressure, leading to her own kidney failure. Although less than one percent of living donors develop kidney failure, those who do are given higher priority on the transplant waiting list, doctors explained.
By December 2016, Looney’s condition had deteriorated to the point where she needed dialysis to remove excess fluid and waste from her bloodstream. She was listed for a kidney transplant in early 2017, but finding a suitable match was a tough task.
High levels of harmful antibodies in her blood made the risk of transplant rejection devastatingly high, according to NYU Langone Health. For nearly eight years, she remained on the transplant waiting list while slowly losing accessible blood vessels necessary for dialysis.
With her medical condition worsening due to several factors, Looney was authorized to receive a kidney from a genetically modified pig under the Food and Drug Administration’s expanded access program, also known as compassionate use.
This program allows investigational medical products to be used outside of clinical trials for patients with life-threatening conditions.
The pig kidney used in her transplant had undergone 10 genetic modifications to make it compatible with human recipients, a procedure known as xenotransplantation. Despite being experimental, this groundbreaking approach has shown promising results.
‘Incredible scientific achievement’
Meanwhile, Xenotransplantation, which involves transplanting organs between species, remains a new procedure that still faces challenges, the medical center stated.
In Looney’s surgery, the kidney was transplanted into her lower abdomen “after a seven-hour surgery co-led by Dr. Robert Montgomery and Dr. Jayme Locke on November 25, 2024,” the medical center said in the press release.”The organ, known as a UKidney, was from a gene-edited pig developed by Revivicor Inc., a subsidiary of United Therapeutics Corporation.”
Dr. Montgomery, who led the complicated transplant procedure, called it an “incredible scientific achievement.”
“We must at all costs protect our heroes who themselves have given the gift of life to someone else,” said Montgomery, who is the director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute.
“Towana represents the culmination of progress we have made in xenotransplantation since we performed the first surgery in 2021. She serves as a beacon of hope to those struggling with kidney failure.”
You can read more about the medical procedure and Looney’s health journey with the pig transplant here.
