[DM] A pig kidney transplanted into a brain-dead man continued to function for two months, marking the longest time a non-human organ has survived in a human.
The procedure, conducted on July 14, implanted the kidney in 58-year-old Maurice 'Mo' Miller, whose body was donated by his family after he was declared dead by neurologic criteria and maintained with a beating heart on ventilator support.
The experiment concluded Wednesday when doctors removed the genetically modified organ, and Miller's sister said her final goodbyes.
Surgeons at NYU Langone Health, who performed the experiment, determined no differences in how the pig kidney reacted to human hormones, excreted antibiotics or experienced medicine-related side effects.
It is the latest in a string of developments renewing hope for animal-to-human transplants, or xenotransplantation, after decades of failure as people's immune systems attacked the foreign tissue.
A previous attempt saw the organ only last for 72 hours before it was rejected.
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