First dual pig organs sustain brain-dead recipient

first dual – A 53-year-old clinically dead man became the first recipient of two pig kidneys and a whole pig liver—sustained for almost five days with no rejection signs in the first 24 hours. The pig organs came from a genetically modified animal with six genome edits, an

By the time bile began flowing from a pig liver inside a human body, the experiment had already crossed a line medicine had rarely been allowed to cross.

A 53-year-old man who was clinically dead and confirmed brain-dead received two kidneys and a whole liver from a genetically modified pig in what a new study describes as the first procedure of its kind. The team sustained the man’s organ function for almost five days with consent from his family. During the first 24 hours, there were no signs the organs were being rejected.

The transplant matters because xenotransplantation has usually stayed small. Most procedures involving pig organs place just one organ into a person. A limited number of people have received pig organs including hearts. kidneys. partial livers and lungs. and clinical trials in living people are under way in the United States and China. But until now, only parts of a pig liver had been transplanted into a person.

Even among clinicians pushing xenotransplantation forward, the leap from one organ to several carries a different kind of pressure. Transplanting pig kidneys and a liver in the same procedure is unique. according to Leonardo Riella. a physician-scientist at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. who in 2024 led the team that first transplanted a pig kidney into a living person. Moving multiple organs is more complex than moving one: procedures take longer, increasing the risk of complications. People who need multiple transplants are often more seriously ill, he added.

The man’s case came with its own urgency. He had severe chronic kidney disease and bleeding in his brain before doctors confirmed his brain death. His liver was healthy, so the team transplanted it from the pig into the man.

The pig used for the organs had undergone six edits to its genome. Three human genes were added to reduce the risk of problems with blood clotting. and three pig genes were removed to prevent the organs being rejected. The operation moved quickly from concept to biology: within 19 hours of the transplant. the pig liver began secreting bile and showed signs of functioning normally.

Bloodwork offered another early signal. The man’s levels of the waste products creatinine and urea—which had been elevated due to his kidney disease—returned to normal after he received the pig kidneys, suggesting they were working as intended.

That early success didn’t last without friction.

By 36 hours after the operation, the team noticed early signs of rejection. Pig cells in the liver and kidneys were gradually being replaced by human cells. a pattern the authors interpret as the immune system detecting that the organs were foreign. The liver also showed small areas of tissue death and blood clotting.

The report points to a specific piece of immune activity. The authors observed that the transplanted organs had raised levels of a type of immune cell called S100A12+. which is involved in inflammation. They suggest these cells could be targeted with drugs to reduce the risk of long-term organ rejection.

Human organs already need more matching than most people realize, and there’s a reason this line of research keeps returning to pigs: multi-organ transplants are performed with human organs, but donor organs are scarce. That shortage is part of why research teams are investigating pig kidneys.

Riella said multi-organ xenotransplants are unlikely to become common in the immediate future. Transplants of multiple human organs are already complicated and high-risk, he argued. Still, the procedure could have a practical niche. It might benefit people with liver failure, he said, because liver failure can also cause the kidneys to stop working.

For Sun. who led the procedure at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Guangxi Medical University in Nanning. China. the next steps are as methodical as they are necessary. He said he and his team will perform more procedures in clinically dead people and living monkeys before attempting living recipients. They also need to confirm there is no risk that people could be infected with viruses or bacteria from the pig organs.

The study was published in Med today, and the piece first appeared May 29, 2026.

xenotransplantation pig liver transplant pig kidney transplant brain-dead recipient genetically modified pig Med today S100A12+