Surgeons transplanted a pig害羞草研究所檚 kidney into a brain-dead man and for over a month it害羞草研究所檚 worked normally 害羞草研究所� a critical step toward an operation the New York team hopes to eventually try in living patients.

Scientists around the country are racing to learn how to use , and offer a remarkable rehearsal.

The latest experiment announced Wednesday by NYU Langone Health marks the longest a pig kidney has functioned in a person, albeit a deceased one -害羞草研究所� and it害羞草研究所檚 not over. Researchers are set to track the kidney害羞草研究所檚 performance for a second month.

害羞草研究所淚s this organ really going to work like a human organ? So far it害羞草研究所檚 looking like it is,害羞草研究所� Dr. Robert Montgomery, director of NYU Langone害羞草研究所檚 transplant institute, told The Associated Press.

害羞草研究所淚t looks even better than a human kidney,害羞草研究所� Montgomery said on July 14 as he replaced a deceased man害羞草研究所檚 own kidneys with a single kidney from a genetically modified pig 害羞草研究所� and watched it immediately start producing urine.

The possibility that pig kidneys might one day help ease a dire shortage of transplantable organs persuaded the family of the 57-year-old Maurice 害羞草研究所淢o害羞草研究所� Miller from upstate New York to donate his body for the experiment.

害羞草研究所淚 struggled with it,害羞草研究所� his sister, Mary Miller-Duffy, told the AP. But he liked helping others and 害羞草研究所淚 think this is what my brother would want. So I offered my brother to them.害羞草研究所�

害羞草研究所淗e害羞草研究所檚 going to be in the medical books, and he will live on forever,害羞草研究所� she added.

It害羞草研究所檚 the latest in a string of developments renewing hope for animal-to-human transplants, or xenotransplantation, after decades of failure as people害羞草研究所檚 immune systems attacked the foreign tissue. What害羞草研究所檚 different this time around: Pigs are being genetically modified so their organs better match human bodies.

Last year, University of Maryland surgeons made history by transplanting a gene-edited pig heart into a dying man who was out of other options. He survived only two months before the organ failed for reasons that but that offer lessons for future attempts.

Now, the Food and Drug Administration is considering whether to allow some small but rigorous studies of pig heart or kidney transplants in volunteer patients.

And it害羞草研究所檚 critical to answer some remaining questions 害羞草研究所渋n a setting where we害羞草研究所檙e not putting someone害羞草研究所檚 life in jeopardy,害羞草研究所� said Montgomery, the NYU kidney transplant surgeon who also received his own heart transplant 害羞草研究所� and is acutely aware of the need for a new source of organs.

More than 100,000 patients are on the nation害羞草研究所檚 transplant list and thousands die each year waiting.

NYU and a team at the University of Alabama at Birmingham had tested pig kidney transplants in deceased recipients for just two or three days. An NYU team also had transplanted pig hearts into donated bodies for three days of intense testing.

But how do pig organs react to a more common human immune attack that takes about a month to form? Only longer testing might tell.

The surgery itself isn害羞草研究所檛 that different from thousands he害羞草研究所檚 performed 害羞草研究所渂ut somewhere in the back of your mind is the enormity of what you害羞草研究所檙e doing 害羞草研究所� recognizing that this could have a huge impact on the future of transplantation,害羞草研究所� Montgomery said.

The operation took careful timing. Early that morning Drs. Adam Griesemer and Jeffrey Stern flew hundreds of miles to a facility where Virginia-based Revivicor Inc. houses genetically modified pigs 害羞草研究所� and retrieved kidneys lacking a gene that would trigger immediate destruction by the human immune system.

As they raced back to NYU, Montgomery was removing both kidneys from the donated body so there害羞草研究所檇 be no doubt if the soon-to-arrive pig version was working. One pig kidney was transplanted, the other stored for comparison when the experiment ends.

害羞草研究所淵ou害羞草研究所檙e always nervous,害羞草研究所� Griesemer said. To see it so rapidly kickstart, 害羞草研究所渢here was a lot of thrill and lot of sense of relief.害羞草研究所�

The University of Maryland害羞草研究所檚 Dr. Muhammad Mohiuddin cautions that it害羞草研究所檚 not clear how closely a deceased body will mimic a live patient害羞草研究所檚 reactions to a pig organ 害羞草研究所� but that this research educates the public about xenotransplantation so 害羞草研究所減eople will not be shocked害羞草研究所� when it害羞草研究所檚 time to try again in the living.

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