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An Alabama woman passed a major milestone on Saturday by becoming the longest-living recipient of a pig organ transplant.
Towana Looney, 53, is healthy and full of energy with her new kidney for 61 days and counting.
Here’s all we know about her.
Towana Looney and her journey of getting a pig organ transplant
Towana Looney donated her mother a kidney in 1999.
Her other kidney ultimately failed due to high blood pressure brought on by pregnancy-related difficulties, which is extremely rare among living donors.
After eight years on dialysis, doctors determined that she was unlikely to receive a donated organ because she had generated extremely high levels of antibodies that were abnormally poised to attack another human kidney.
Looney therefore sought the pig experiment.
There was no information on how it may impact someone who was “extremely sensitive” to those overactive antibodies.
She underwent the surgery on November 25.
The 53-year-old left the hospital just 11 days after her operation and is staying in New York for another month to be observed by doctors before heading home to Gadsden, Alabama.
Through blood tests and other data, her team has kept a careful eye on her recuperation.
Three weeks following the transplant, they noticed faint indications of rejection, which they had learnt to identify from a 2023 experiment in which a pig kidney functioned for 61 days inside the body of a deceased man whose body was given for study.
Dr Robert Montgomery from NYU Langone Health, who led Looney’s transplant, said they successfully treated Looney, and there’s been no sign of rejection since — and a few weeks ago she met the family behind that deceased body research.
Also read: 80% Organ Donors Are Women, 80% Recipients Are Men. Why?
‘A superwoman’
Now Looney said she feels like a “superwoman” after the successful transplant, laughing about outpacing family members on long walks around New York City.
“It’s a new take on life,” she told the Associated Press.
Dr Montgomery said, “If you saw her on the street, you would have no idea that she’s the only person in the world walking around with a pig organ inside them that’s functioning.”
Dr Montgomery called Looney’s kidney function “absolutely normal.”
“It’s a blessing,” said Looney. “I feel like I’ve been given another chance at life. I cannot wait to be able to travel again and spend more quality time with my family and grandchildren.”
She is now trying to help others, serving as what Montgomery calls an ambassador for people who’ve been reaching out to her through social media, sharing their distress at the long wait for transplants and wondering about pig kidneys.
One, she said, was being considered for a xenotransplant at another hospital but was scared, wondering whether to proceed.
“I didn’t want to persuade him whether to do or not to do it,” Looney said. Instead, she asked if he was religious and urged him to pray, and “go off your faith, what your heart tells you.”
“I love talking to people; I love helping people,” she added. “I want to be, like, some educational piece” for scientists to help others.
Also read: Surgical Milestone: World’s first transplant of genetically-edited pig kidney to a live patient
‘A beacon of hope’
Although Looney’s new kidney’s lifespan cannot be predicted, she may need dialysis once more if it fails.
“The truth is we don’t really know what the next hurdles are because this is the first time we’ve gotten this far,” Dr Montgomery said.
“We’ll have to continue to really keep a close eye on her.”
Only four other Americans — two hearts and two kidneys — have had extremely risky gene-edited pig organ transplants, and none of them survived for longer than two months.
“Towana represents the culmination of the progress we have made in xenotransplantation since we performed the first surgery in 2021,” said Dr Montgomery.
“She serves as a beacon of hope to those struggling with kidney failure.”
The company that provided Looney’s kidney, United Therapeutics, recently requested approval from the Food and Drug Administration to start a trial.
Dr Tatsuo Kawai of Massachusetts General Hospital, who oversaw the first pig kidney transplant in history last year and collaborates with eGenesis, another pig developer, described Looney’s condition as a “very precious experience.”
Kawai pointed out that Looney’s progress will assist guide future efforts because she was much healthier than the previous patients.
He stated, “We must all learn from one another.”
Also read: How air ambulances are a boon to organ transplant
More about pig transplants
A serious lack of transplantable human organs is prompting scientists to genetically alter pigs to produce more human-like organs.
Over 100,000 patients, the majority of whom require kidney transplants, are on the waiting list in the United States.
In India, over two lakh patients suffering from end-stage kidney disease are awaiting organ donation; however, only 15,000 donors are available.
Up until now, pig organ transplants have only been permitted as “compassionate use” research, which the FDA only permits when individuals have no other choice.
Additionally, in anticipation of the world’s first official xenotransplantation trials, which are anticipated to start this year, the few hospitals that have tried them are exchanging information about what worked and what didn’t.
With inputs from The Associated Press