Chinese doctors announced on Wednesday that they had successfully performed the world’s first liver transplant using an organ from a genetically modified pig, transplanting it into a brain-dead human. This groundbreaking achievement offers hope for the future of organ donation as a potential life-saving alternative.
The procedure was carried out at the Fourth Military Medical University in Xi’an, China, and marks a major milestone in transplantation science. While pigs have long been considered promising organ donors, with some patients in the United States having received pig kidneys and hearts, liver transplants have proven more challenging. Until now, no pig liver had ever been tested inside a human body.
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Given the increasing global shortage of liver donors, researchers believe genetically modified pig organs could serve as a temporary solution for patients facing long transplant waiting lists. The liver used in this procedure came from a miniature pig with six edited genes to enhance compatibility for human transplantation. It was transplanted into a brain-dead adult patient on March 10, 2024, at the Xi’an hospital.
The transplant was monitored for 10 days before being discontinued at the family’s request, with doctors ensuring that all ethical guidelines were strictly followed. According to a study published in Nature, the procedure was an auxiliary transplant, meaning the patient retained their original liver while receiving the pig liver for additional support.
The goal of this experiment was to determine whether a genetically modified pig liver could function as a temporary “bridge organ” for patients awaiting human donor livers. Throughout the 10-day trial, the medical team closely observed the pig liver’s performance, including blood flow, bile production, immune response, and other critical functions.
Dr. Lin Wang, a co-author of the study and a physician at the Xi’an hospital, reported that the pig liver functioned well, secreting bile and producing albumin, a key protein. However, while the organ performed essential functions, it generated much lower levels of bile and albumin compared to a human liver, highlighting the need for further research.
Many scientists have hailed this as a significant breakthrough, though they caution that the findings do not yet confirm that pig livers can fully replace human livers in transplantation. Lin emphasized that liver transplants are more complex than heart transplants since the liver is responsible for multiple vital functions, including filtering blood and metabolizing substances like drugs and alcohol.
The research team aims to extend future studies beyond the 10-day period and eventually test genetically modified pig livers in living humans. Lin also stressed the importance of collaboration with American researchers, acknowledging that Chinese doctors have learned a great deal from U.S. studies in the field.
Oxford University professor Peter Friend, a leading expert in transplantation who was not involved in the study, praised the research as “valuable and impressive.” However, he noted that pig livers are unlikely to replace human donor livers in the near future. Instead, he suggested they may serve as temporary support for patients in liver failure.
This study builds on previous research conducted in 2024 at the University of Pennsylvania, where a pig liver was connected to a brain-dead patient but was not transplanted into the body. Other recent experiments include two pig heart transplants in the United States last year, though both recipients later died. However, in a promising development, 53-year-old Towana Looney is recovering at home in Alabama after receiving a pig kidney transplant on November 25, 2024.
While this latest liver transplant represents a major step forward in xenotransplantation, researchers acknowledge that significant challenges remain. “There is still much work to be done,” Lin concluded.
