Summary
A 71-year-old man in China has become the first living person to receive a liver transplant from a genetically modified pig. More than two weeks after the surgery, the man is ‘doing very well’ Since early 2022, surgeons have transplanted pig hearts, kidneys and a thymus into four people.
The team deactivated three genes that contribute to the production of sugars on the surface of pig cells, which the human immune system attacks. They also introduced seven genes that express human proteins. Sun says that he has not seen signs of the organ being rejected, including from a biopsy conducted on day 12.
