kidney transplant

A transplanted pig kidney offers a grandmother hope for life without dialysis

5:00am December 17, 2024

The patient was in kidney failure and her immune system would reject a human organ. Scientists hope genetically modified pig organs prove safe and will alleviate the organ shortage and save lives.

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Surgeons perform the first transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney into a living human at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston.

Health & Safety

First human transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney performed

4:52pm March 21, 2024

by Rob Stein

Surgeons at Massachusetts General Hospital said they transplanted a genetically edited pig kidney into a living human for the first time. The 62-year-old recipient has end-stage kidney disease.

Alexis Conell battled end-stage renal disease for years before receiving her kidney transplant in 2012. Paying for the drugs needed to keep her kidneys healthy is a struggle.

Health & Safety

Lawmakers, Advocates Push To Extend Medicare's Coverage Of Kidney Transplant Drugs

2:40pm July 17, 2019

by JoNel Aleccia

People under 65 who get kidney transplants can rely on Medicare to cover only three years of post-transplant treatment. There's a new call to extend coverage for meds that keep the organ functioning.

Surgeons at Johns Hopkins perform a transplant using an HIV-positive organ.

Study Aims To Show Transplants Between HIV-Positive Patients Are Safe, Save Lives

7:42am June 01, 2018

by Emily Forman

Hundreds of otherwise viable organs that are HIV-positive are wasted each year, while HIV-positive patients in need of transplants languish on waiting lists. Researchers want to change that.