A genetically modified kidney from a pig called Wilma has kept a 66-year-old man with kidney failure alive for a record nine months, according to The Guardian. Tim Andrews, from New Hampshire, received the kidney as a “bridge” to a human transplant in a world first.

Record-Breaking Transplant

Andrews was seriously ill with end-stage kidney disease caused by type 2 diabetes and had only a 9% chance of receiving a human kidney within five years, against a more than 40% risk of dying or being removed from the waiting list. Surgeons in the US transplanted a kidney from Wilma, a Yucatan miniature pig, into Andrews after genetically engineering it to be compatible with his immune system.

The kidney kept Andrews free of dialysis for a record nine months before it began failing, and he received one from a dead human donor. It was also the first time a pig’s kidney had been used as a temporary “bridge” to a human transplant. Details of the breakthrough were published in the Lancet medical journal.

Hope for Millions

Andrews described the pig kidney transplant as a “miracle,” adding, “I was alive, and I hadn’t been in a long time.” He was able to cook, vacuum, and take long walks with his dog, Cupcake, he said. Transplanting genetically engineered pig organs has long been proposed as a solution to the organ shortage, but the first pig kidney transplant into a living person in 2024 ended after 52 days when the patient died from unrelated heart problems.

Before the transplant in January 2025, Wilma the pig had received 69 edits to her genome. Some of these were designed to dodge viruses that might pose a risk to humans, while others made the organ more compatible with humans, reducing the odds of immune rejection. The team behind the transplant at Mass General Brigham, a non-profit, integrated academic healthcare system in Massachusetts, said Andrews successfully lived with the genetically edited kidney for 271 days before receiving a human kidney from a donor.

His case represents the longest dialysis-free survival following pig kidney xenotransplantation in a living human, and the world’s first transition to human kidney transplantation, the team said. Dr Leonardo Riella, of the Center for Transplantation Sciences and the Division of Nephrology at Mass General Brigham, said, “The organ shortage is the greatest crisis we have right now in transplantation. We know that the best treatment option for patients with end-stage kidney disease who have developed renal failure is transplantation, but we simply don’t have enough human organs to transplant in a timely manner.

Future of Xenotransplantation

Andrews was told it could take seven years to get to the top of the transplant list, but that people live only five years, on average, on dialysis. “I had a little bit of a shortage of time… it becomes very depressing,” he said. But he described the idea of a pig transplant as “hope” and the “light at the end of the tunnel.” Pigs are seen as the ideal animal for xenotransplantation. Their organs are roughly the right size, and there have been years of experience farming them.

Andrews had end-stage kidney disease as a result of type 2 diabetes and his kidneys were failing. He was 66 years old when he had the xenotransplant on January 25, 2025. The transplanted pig kidney worked immediately, according to details just published in the Lancet. The kidney continued to function for 271 days until it was removed in October that year. Tim then needed dialysis for 82 days until he had an organ from a donor in January of this year. That organ has been working well.

Dr Riella said the shortage of organs available for transplant meant “we are in a crisis.” “We are working really hard to bring hope and we truly feel that xenotransplantation can be an alternative for patients who don’t have a living donor.” After roughly six months, damage developed in the pig kidney’s blood vessels which progressed to organ failure and the kidney was removed nine months after transplantation.

After several months back on dialysis, Andrews received a kidney from a dead human donor, which worked well during six months of follow-up, according to the Lancet. There were no new antibodies against human tissue detected, indicating the pig kidney had not made it harder for the human kidney transplant to work successfully. No pig viruses or other pig pathogens were detected at any point.

The team cautioned that this was a single patient with no comparison group, and that the outcome reflected careful patient selection and intensive specialist care that may not be available elsewhere. Further clinical trials such as the one Andrews participated in will be needed. But the success opens the door to pig kidney transplants as a bridge for other people facing long waits for a human kidney, they said. “The patients are the true pioneers here,” Riella said. “By stepping forward and being willing to participate in these early stage studies, they are advancing the science. Without their trust and courage, we would not be able to do what we do.”