‘Blessed’: US woman sees second chance in life after pig kidney transplant

WASHINGTON: Towana Looney donated a kidney to her mother in 1999 only for the remaining one to fail years later due to pregnancy complications.

Now, the 53-year-old from Alabama has become the latest recipient of a gene-edited pig kidney — and is currently the only living person in the world with an animal organ transplant, New York’s NYU Langone hospital announced Tuesday.

“I’m overjoyed, I’m blessed to have received this gift, this second chance at life,” Looney said during a press conference, held three weeks after the procedure.

Xenotransplantation, transplanting organs from one species to another, has long been a tantalising yet elusive scientific goal. Early experiments on primates faltered, but recent advances in gene editing and immune system management have brought the dream closer to reality.

Pigs have emerged as the ideal donors: they grow quickly, produce large litters and are already part of the human food supply.

Advocates hope this approach can help address the severe organ shortage in the United States, where more than 100,000 people are waiting for transplants, including over 90,000 in need of kidneys.

Looney had been living with dialysis since December 2016 — eight gruelling years. High blood pressure caused by preeclampsia had taken its toll, leaving her with chronic kidney disease.

Despite receiving priority on transplant waiting lists as a living donor, her search for a compatible kidney was a frustrating dead end. Her unusually high levels of harmful antibodies made rejection almost inevitable, and as her body lost viable blood vessels to support dialysis, her health declined.

Out of options, Looney applied to join a clinical trial for pig kidney transplants, and finally underwent the seven-hour surgery on November 25.

Asked how she felt afterward, Looney’s joy was infectious. “I’m full of energy, I’ve got an appetite… and of course, I can go to the bathroom. I haven’t been going in eight years!” she laughed, adding that she plans to celebrate at Disney World.

Jayme Locke, a surgeon on the transplant team, described the results with awe. “The kidney functioned essentially exactly like a kidney from a living donor,” she said, adding that Looney’s husband saw a rosiness in her cheeks for the first time in years.

“That is the miracle of transplantation.”