New Hampshire man resumes dialysis after record 271 days living with a
pig kidney
[October 28, 2025]
By LAURAN NEERGAARD
WASHINGTON (AP) — A New Hampshire man is resuming dialysis after living
with a gene-edited pig kidney for a record 271 days, doctors said
Monday. His experience is helping researchers in their quest for
animal-to-human transplants.
Tim Andrews, 67, had the organ removed on Oct. 23 because its function
was declining, according to Mass General Brigham. In a statement, his
transplant team called Andrews “a selfless medical pioneer and an
inspiration” to patients with kidney failure.
Andrews’ experience illustrates lessons researchers have learned with
each experiment involving what's called xenotransplantation. The first
attempts using pig organs gene-edited to be more humanlike – two hearts
and two kidneys – were short-lived.
Then researchers began considering patients not nearly as sick as prior
recipients for these experiments — and an Alabama woman’s pig kidney
lasted 130 days before it had to be removed last spring, the record
Andrews surpassed.
More than 100,000 people, most needing kidneys, are on the U.S.
transplant list, and thousands die waiting.
Andrews, of Concord, New Hampshire, knew his blood type is particularly
hard to match and sought an alternative, getting into shape to qualify
for Mass General’s xenotransplant pilot study. His doctors said he
remains on the transplant list.
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This image provided by Massachusetts General Hospital shows Tim
Andrews smiling as he leaves Massachusetts General Hospital in
Boston on Feb. 1, 2025. (Kate Flock/Massachusetts General Hospital
via AP, file)
In June, the Mass General team
transplanted a pig kidney into another New Hampshire man who
continues to fare well. The pilot study is set to conclude with a
third pig kidney transplant later this year.
Two companies, eGenesis and United Therapeutics, are preparing to
begin more rigorous clinical trials of pig kidney transplants.
Surgeons in China also are pursuing this new field, reporting a pig
kidney transplant last spring and separately a transplanted pig
liver that had to be removed after 38 days.
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