An Alabama woman who received a pig kidney transplant had the organ removed after her body began rejecting it.
Towana Looney lived with the kidney for a record 130 days before it was taken out on April 4 at NYU Langone Health in New York, doctors said.
She is back in Alabama on dialysis and recovering well from the recent surgery, according to the doctors.
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While it’s a disappointing setback in the ongoing quest for animal-to-human transplants, Looney thanked her doctors in a statement for the opportunity to be part of the research.
She hopes her experience — and the knowledge gained from it — can help and inspire others to overcome kidney disease.
Looney received the transplanted animal organ in a breakthrough surgery back in Dec. 2024. Doctors said a traditional transplant would be too risky because of the antibodies in her bloodstream.
Scientists have been genetically altering pigs so their organs are more humanlike to address a shortage in life-saving organ transplants.
More than 100,000 people are on the U.S. transplant list, most needing a kidney.
