An Alabama woman is hogging the spotlight after a successful pig kidney transplant in New York City.
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Towana Looney, 53, received a groundbreaking transplant on Nov. 25 at NYU Langone Health, where a kidney from a genetically modified pig was successfully implanted. The procedure came after Looney endured eight years of dialysis, according to the Associated Press.
Looney donated a kidney to her mother in 1999. However, her remaining kidney was later damaged and eventually failed due to pregnancy complications. She developed a high level of antibodies, making it likely she would reject kidneys from other donors.
Looney is the fifth American patient to receive a gene-edited pig organ since 2022 and only the third to undergo a pig kidney transplant, according to the New York Times. Sadly, past recipients only lived for a few months after the surgeries.
She was discharged from the hospital 11 days after her surgery and is now recovering well, per the AP. However, Looney was “temporarily readmitted this week” to fine-tune her medications.
“It’s like a new beginning,” she told the AP. “The energy I had was amazing. To have a working kidney—and to feel it—is unbelievable.”
Looney admitted to the outlet that she had her reservations about the procedure.
“You don’t know if it’s going to work or not until you try,” she said.
Looney, who will return to her home in Gadsden, Alabama, in three months, told the New York Times before her hospital readmission that she has “never felt better.”
The Pig Kidney Transplant Offers Hope to Those on Dialysis
She also offered some insight into her life spent on dialysis in the years leading up to her surgery. Of course, dialysis is a treatment that removes extra fluid and waste from your blood when your kidneys can’t do it anymore.
“I used to do one task, sit down and take a rest, then go do another task,” she detailed of her low-energy levels before the surgery. “Now, I multitask!”
Dr. Robert Montgomery from NYU Langone Health worked with Dr. Jayme Locke, Looney’s primary doctor, to perform the transplant. Looney applied for the procedure in April 2023, and it was later approved by the FDA.
“To see hope restored to her and her family is extraordinary,” Locke told the AP.
Aware of the risks, Looney responded with determination, saying, “OK, where do I sign?” She acknowledged that Locke had cautioned her about the dangers and emphasized that the procedure was breaking “new ground.”
Looney’s kidney came from a genetically modified pig with 10 specific gene edits, supplied by Revivicor, a company under United Therapeutics Corporation, according to The New York Times.
Scientists are now genetically modifying pigs to make their organs more compatible with humans, according to the Associated Press. This breakthrough comes as over 100,000 people in the U.S. wait for transplants, most needing a kidney.