He was the first to receive a kidney from a pig. He died for a different reason

In April 2024, a groundbreaking procedure was performed at Massachusetts General Hospital – 62-year-old Richard Slayman as the first in the world received a kidney from a genetically modified pig. This procedure raised hopes for a new era in transplantology, especially for thousands of patients who were unsuccessfully waiting for donors. Unfortunately, two months after the transplant, Slayman died. As doctors emphasize, his death however, it was not the result of transplant rejection.

Slayman, who had struggled with type 2 diabetes and kidney failure for years (after a previous transplant failed in 2023), was a very good candidate for this risky procedure. Despite previous heart problems, his condition seemed stable enough that doctors decided to operate. After the procedure, the patient felt so good that left the hospital after two weeks and even visited the local mall twice.

Unfortunately, just two months after the surgery, Slayman died. The autopsy showed that there was no graft rejectionand the cause of death was unexpected heart failure – which, as Tatsuo Kawai, chairman of transplantology at Mass General, emphasizes, is a positive sign for the future of research on interspecies transplants (so-called xenotransplantations).

Organ transplants from animals to humans have been an ambition of scientists for decades, but only thanks to modern technologies it became possible to remove genes causing transplant rejection. The key step is elimination cukru alfa-galwhich occurs in animals, but not in humans – this difference is of great importance in the process of acceptance of the organ by the human body.

Initial research on modified organs was carried out mainly on animals and on people who were considered brain dead. Over time, legal regulations began to allow these transplants to be performed in patients for whom there were no other options. Slayman was such a patient he took the risk knowing that the alternatives were virtually non-existent.

During a discussion organized by the Boston Globe, Mike Curtis, president of eGenesis, the company responsible for genetically modified pigs, revealed plans for further research. The company plans to begin official clinical trials next year, including kidney and heart transplants and the use of liver outside the body in a way similar to dialysis.