Monkeys survive two+ years with transplanted pig kidneys
Phase I trial in humans is next

Harvard genetics professor George Church, who co-founded the company behind these pig-monkey transplants
What's the news: Monkeys with transplanted pig kidneys survive for two-plus years.
Why should we believe it: This news is based on a new study published just yesterday by scientists working for eGenesis, a biotech company co-founded by longevity researcher George Church. The eGenesis scientists genetically engineered pig kidneys in 60 different ways to:
Suppress the likelihood of an immune response in the host (3 edits).
Make pig kidney cells behave more like human cells (7 edits).
Prevent latent pig diseases from surfacing in the monkeys (59 edits).
The result was that when transplanted into monkeys, the monkeys survived for a median of 6 months, with some of the monkeys surviving for 2 or more years. Previously, the best that monkeys could hope to do with a transplanted pig kidney was to live for three months or less.
Why this is a big deal: This study points to a future in which human patients might also get pig kidneys instead of having to go on dialysis, which is a traumatic and arduous procedure. Looking even further, pigs might be a source of other organs for human hosts — 17 people die in the US each day while waiting for an organ transplant.
So what's next: The current results are good enough that eGenesis plans to apply for FDA approval to run a phase 1 clinical trial to test the viability in humans. If everything goes according to plan, that trial should kick off in 2025.