“Surgeons in Boston successfully transplanted the kidney of a genetically modified pig into a 66-year-old man with kidney failure last month, Massachusetts General Hospital announced on Friday.

It was the fourth pig kidney transplant in the United States, and the first of three that will be done at Mass General as part of a new clinical trial sanctioned by the Food and Drug Administration. Two of the previous patients died shortly after the procedure, including one who was critically ill before the transplant…

The new clinical trial, which is using organs produced by the biotech company eGenesis, is one of two studies of genetically engineered animal organs that got a green light from regulators earlier this week. The other, sponsored by United Therapeutics Corporation, will begin later this year with six patients, but that number could eventually rise to 50.

The latest transplant recipient, Tim Andrews of Concord, N.H., had his surgery in late January and was well enough to be discharged a week later.”

From New York Times.