Unlikely Animal Friends: Pig Donates Kidney to Massachusetts Man
Richard Slayman, a 62-year-old man from Weymouth, Massachusetts, has received a gene-edited kidney from an increasingly likely match: a pig.
By Katie Compa · March 25, 2024
Disclaimer: While this article is based on succulent prime facts, it does contain some drippings of satire.
Not all men are pigs (they claim,) but thanks to a new scientific technique, Massachusetts resident Richard Slayman is now 1/78 porker. No, he hasn’t replaced a hand with a cloven hoof - he simply received a new kidney from an unlikely donor: a genetically engineered pig.
Over 100,000 people are on the waitlist for an organ transplant, primarily for kidneys. The Food and Drug Administration gave special permission for Slayman’s transplant under “compassionate use” rules: Slayman, 62, had already received a human kidney transplant back in 2018 at Massachusetts General Hospital, but after it showed signs of failure, he had to go back on dialysis in 2023. When complications around dialysis arose, requiring Slayman to undergo frequent and tiring procedures, his doctors suggested that the solution might lie with the Lord of the Flies.
Though most may think of pigs as 90 percent bacon, they are anatomically similar enough to humans that a transplant surgeon once referred to them as “vertical pigs,” and modern medicine has successfully used pigs for skin grafts and replacement heart valves in humans for years.
The transplant news drew decidedly mixed reviews from the porcine portion of the animal kingdom: Wilbur the pig’s press representative provided only a brief web release, stating simply, “Some Kidney.” Peppa Pig could not be reached for comment, as she is a minor; the silence to date from the world’s most celebrated squealer, Miss Piggy, is deafening.
The DNA of the kidney-donor pig was edited to remove harmful pig genes and add certain human genes to improve the chances of the organ being accepted. The four-hour, 15-person transplant surgery culminated in cheers from the team when the kidney turned pink and started making urine, doctors said at a news conference. “It was truly the most beautiful kidney I have ever seen,” said lead surgeon Dr. Tatsuo Kawai, which we have to assume is true - pigs physically can’t ruin their kidneys with excess alcohol, cigarettes, and a diet too high in salt and animal protein unless humans provide both the supplies and the opposable thumbs, which, to be fair, seems like the least we could offer.
While a few whole organs have been transplanted from pigs before, only to be rejected by the human immune system, this surgery marks the first time a gene-edited pig kidney has been placed into a living person. (No word on when this technology will become available to billionaires, who will be forced to continue buying human organs on the black market.)