The first patient to receive a modified porcine kidney transplant has been discharged from the hospital. According to Sky NewsRichard Sleiman, 62, became the first person in the world to receive the organ after a four-hour operation last March at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, US.
Richard suffered from end-stage renal disease, a chronic disease in which the kidneys can no longer function on their own.
The successful operation raised hopes that animal-to-human transplantation – xenotransplantation – could solve the global shortage of donor organs.
The kidney Richard received was modified by eGenesis, a Massachusetts company.
“We are pleased to announce that today Ric Sleiman, our first patient to receive a genetically modified porcine kidney transplant, was released from the hospital. He is recovering well and will continue to recover at home with his family,” the hospital said Monday. post on social network X (formerly Twitter).