Health and Medicine
PUBLISHED
Towana Looney, a woman from Alabama who last year became the third person to undergo a pig kidney transplant, is reportedly still recovering well after her surgery. Having now passed two months since the operation, this makes Looney the longest-surviving recipient of such an organ to date.
The rest of this article is behind a paywall. Please sign in or subscribe to access the full content.Looney had her pioneering surgery at NYU Langone Health in November 2024. She’d been on the waiting list since 2017, and her complex medical situation meant medics were not convinced they would ever find a suitable human donor organ. So, they turned to the still-experimental procedure of using a gene-edited pig kidney instead.
Using animal organs for transplants, known as xenotransplantation, has long been a goal for scientists seeking to help mitigate the shortage of donor organs. The US Health Resources and Services Administration estimates that 17 people die every day while on a transplant waiting list. As well as other technological advances, finding a way to safely transplant animal organs into people could be a vital lifeline.
Key to the success of xenotransplantation is the ability to use gene editing to make the animal organs as compatible as possible with the human body. In Looney’s case, the medical team was able to build on previous research, and the kidney she received had 10 separate gene edits.
The two previous living recipients of gene-edited kidneys, Rick Slayman and Lisa Pisano, both died within two months of their surgeries. In Slayman’s case, his sudden death was not directly linked to the transplant. Pisano had other significant medical complications including a heart condition, and the transplanted kidney had to be removed after a few weeks when it was found to be receiving an inadequate blood supply.
Looney was put on the transplant waiting list after developing chronic kidney disease related to pre-eclampsia during pregnancy. Her situation was further complicated by the fact she had only one kidney, having donated her other to her mother in 1999. Having been a living donor places someone at a higher priority level on the transplant waiting list; but still, her lead surgeon Dr Robert Montgomery described her chances of finding a match as “one-in-a-million”. Xenotransplantation was permitted as a last resort.
Looney’s surgery was a success, and she was discharged 11 days later, still under the watchful eye of the medical team. Since her operation, she has remained in New York City, but it’s hoped that her impressive recovery will mean she’s able to return home to Alabama soon.
“We're quite optimistic that this is going to continue to work and work well for, you know, a significant period of time,” Montgomery told the Associated Press.
Although there were some very early signs of organ rejection, Montgomery explained, the team was able to catch these and treat them, thanks to lessons learned from prior research. Since then, Looney has continued to recover well, and the organ has been functioning normally.
It’s still early days for xenotransplantation, but the team – and Looney herself – are optimistic about her progress, and what it might mean for the future of this technology.
“I’m superwoman,” Looney told the Associated Press. “It’s a new take on life.”
[H/T: The Associated Press]
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