Successful pig kidney transplant in a 'dead brain' person in the United States

It took doctors two hours to get the transplant

American doctors have successfully transplanted a pig's kidney into the body of a man whose brain has died. Doctors say this is a very important experiment that could solve the problem of shortage of human organ donations in the future.

The person who received the kidney transplant is mentally dead, meaning that the person is already on artificial life support and has no chance of recovery.

This kidney belongs to a pig in which genetic changes were made so that the human body would not reject this kidney as something else.

The experiment has not yet been reviewed or published by other scientists, but there are plans to do so.

This type of experiment has been performed on other living things before, but this is the first experiment performed on a human being.

Experts say this is a very important development in the field of transplants.

The use of pig organs for transplants is nothing new. Pig heart valves have been used in humans.

Pig limbs are a great alternative for humans in terms of size.

In a two-hour operation at New York University's Langone Health Medical Center, doctors connected a pig's kidney to a dead brain's blood vessel so that it could be seen before a regular transplant to see if the kidney was normal. Works like a kidney or the person's body will reject it.

Experts say that this is a very important experience

Doctors monitored kidney function for the next two and a half days, during which time several check-ups and tests were performed.

Lead researcher Dr Montgomery told the BBC's World Tonight program: "We looked at a kidney that was working just like a human kidney for a transplant. He was acting just like a normal human kidney.

"He was moving like a normal kidney and his body did not refuse to recognize him.

Dr. Montgomery has had his own heart transplant. He says there is an urgent need for organ transplants for patients on the waiting list for transplants. However, he acknowledged that their current experience was controversial.

"I understand people's concerns, but I would also like to say that at the moment, 40% of patients who need a transplant will die before the organs can be arranged," he said.

"We use pork as an important source of food, it is used in medicine, it is used for the heart valve, so I think its kidney is used for humans," he added. It's not very different. "

"This is a preliminary research and more studies are needed in this direction, but it gives us confidence that it could be an alternative in the medical field," he said.

The team of doctors who performed the transplant

Dr Maryam Khosravi, a kidney specialist at the UK's National Medical Institute (NHS), said: How has this research gone a step further?

"Just because we can use pig's limbs doesn't mean we should use them," he said of the moral code. I think these questions need to be answered. "

A spokesman for the NHS's Blood and Transplant Department said: "Our priority right now is to manage as many human donations as possible. "The time is far away when an experiment like the implantation of a pig's kidney in humans will become a common reality."

"Researchers and medical experts are working to make organ transplants better and easier in humans, but it is our responsibility to make the decisions for the patients themselves and their families." Tell them what they would like to do if a transplant is needed.