Pig kidney works in human body for over a month, in latest step forward in animal-human transplants

For over a month, a pig's kidney that was transplanted into a human body has worked normally — a step surgeons hope can one day lead to using this type of operation to save patients' lives. The experimental surgery was performed with the consent of the family of a man who had been declared brain dead and donated his body to science.

Announced by NYU Langone Health Wednesday, this experiment marks the longest a genetically-engineered pig kidney has functioned in a person, the researchers said. The man who received the organ was "maintained with a beating heart on ventilator support," according to a news release. 

"This work demonstrates a pig kidney — with only one genetic modification and without experimental medications or devices — can replace the function of a human kidney for at least 32 days without being rejected," Dr. Robert Montgomery, director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute who led the procedure on July 14, said in a statement.