A watershed moment in medical history occurred on Saturday, Jan. 25, as an Alabama woman became the longest-living pig organ recipient ever. Towana Looney is reportedly healthy and living a normal life with her new pig kidney at more than 60 days and counting after her transplant.
Groundbreaking milestone
“We’re hitting a really important milestone,” Dr. Robert Montgomery said. “Towana will be the first human to receive a pig organ and have it function past two months.”
Looney’s recovery is offering hope to those on transplant waiting lists and scientists who are working to make animal-to-human transplants successful.
Montgomery said, “If you saw her on the street, you would have no idea that she’s the only person in the world walking around with a pig organ inside them that’s functioning.”
Download the SAN app today to stay up-to-date with Unbiased. Straight Facts™.
Point phone camera here
Looney said she feels healthy and that she’s able to keep a brisk walking pace. Before the surgery, she said she was the one struggling to keep up, but now much has changed.
Why it matters
Only four other Americans have ever received transplants from gene-edited pig organs, two hearts and two kidneys, and none have lived more than two months.
Montgomery said, “We’re going past that two-month mark. Her kidney function is absolutely normal, and the biopsies that we’ve done from the kidney look great. We’re quite optimistic that this is going to continue to work and work well for a significant period of time.”
Doctors expect Looney will be able to leave New York, where she is undergoing checkups, for her home in Alabama in about a month.
As Looney’s recovery continues, scientists are continuing to genetically alter pig organs so that they are more humanlike, in order to address a dire shortage of transplantable human organs.
More than 100,000 Americans are reportedly on the U.S. transplant list, most of them in need of a kidney, and thousands die waiting.
Only special cases so far
Patients who have been given pig organs to this point are special cases, which are allowed by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for people with no other options.
