After years on transplant wait list, Alabama grandmother receives kidney from gene-edited pig

Towana Looney is the only person in the world living with a functional pig kidney. But her doctor predicts that in less than a decade, pig-to-human organ transplants like hers could become routine.

Towana Looney is the only person in the world living with a functional pig kidney. But her doctor predicts that in less than a decade, pig-to-human organ transplants like hers could become routine. Looney, 53, is from Alabama and had the transplant at NYU Langone Transplant Institute in New York on November 25. Eleven days later, she was able to walk out the door as hospital staffers lined the hall and applauded. Wearing a mask and NYU Langone Health sweats, Looney held two thumbs up high in the air. Doctors announced Tuesday that Looney is doing well and that the kidney seems to be functioning as intended. “I am overjoyed. I’m blessed to have received this gift, a second chance at life,” Looney said at a news conference on Tuesday. “I am full of energy. Got an appetite I’ve never had in eight years. And of course, you know, I can go to the bathroom. I haven’t been going in eight years. Can’t get used to that.” Asked what she wants to do next, she said, “I want to go to Disney World.” For now, she lives in an apartment near the hospital so she can get checkups every day. The team of doctors also monitors her health using artificial intelligence and wearable equipment that can keep constant track of her vitals and even potentially detect a problem like an infection before it would make her sick.