An Alabama woman who is the only living recipient of a pig organ transplant reached a significant milestone on Saturday by becoming the longest living person with a functioning pig organ.
Towana Looney, 53, remains healthy and full of energy, setting a record by reaching the 61-day mark with her pig kidney on Saturday.
“I’m superwoman,” Looney told The Associated Press. “It’s a new take on life.”
Only four other Americans have undergone experimental transplants of gene-edited pig organs — two receiving a heart and two receiving a kidney — but none of them survived more than two months.
WOMAN RECEIVES PIG KIDNEY TRANSPLANT, WALKS OUT OF HOSPITAL DAYS LATER: ‘SECOND CHANCE’
Towana Looney, who received a pig kidney transplant in November 2024, goes over notes about her recovery with Dr. Jeffrey Stern at NYU Langone Health in New York, Friday, Jan. 24, 2025. (AP)
“If you saw her on the street, you would have no idea that she’s the only person in the world walking around with a pig organ inside them that’s functioning,” Dr. Robert Montgomery of NYU Langone Health, who led Looney’s transplant, said.
Montgomery stated that Looney’s kidney function is “absolutely normal.” She has been staying in New York temporarily for post-transplant checkups, but doctors anticipate her return to Gadsden, Alabama, in about a month.
“We’re quite optimistic that this is going to continue to work and work well for, you know, a significant period of time,” Montgomery expressed.
Scientists are genetically modifying pigs to have more human-like organs to address the severe shortage of human organs available for transplants.
With over 100,000 people on the U.S. transplant list, the majority needing a kidney, thousands perish while waiting.
The Food and Drug Administration permits pig organ transplants in special circumstances for individuals who have exhausted all other options.
Dr. Tatsuo Kawai of Massachusetts General Hospital, who led the world’s first pig kidney transplant last year and collaborates with eGenesis, another pig developer, described Looney’s progress as a “very precious experience.”
Towana Looney sits for an NYU Langone Health press conference on Tuesday, December 17, 2024. (Fox News)
Looney’s condition is much better than previous pig organ recipients, noted Kawai, stating that her progress will benefit future attempts.
“We have to learn from each other,” he remarked.
Looney donated a kidney to her mother in 1999, but complications during pregnancy led to high blood pressure, damaging her remaining kidney and causing its failure, a rare situation among living donors.
After spending eight years on dialysis, doctors concluded that it was unlikely for her to receive a donated organ due to her elevated levels of antibodies targeting another human kidney.
Seeking an alternative, Looney decided to participate in the pig organ experiment, not knowing how it would fare in someone highly sensitive with overactive antibodies.
Montgomery’s team closely monitored Looney’s recovery through various tests since the November 25 surgery. Three weeks post-transplant, subtle signs of rejection emerged, indicating the need for vigilance based on a 2023 experiment where a pig kidney functioned for 61 days in a deceased man used for research purposes.
MASSACHUSETTS MAN, RECIPIENT OF FIRST SUCCESSFUL PIG KIDNEY TRANSPLANT, IS DISCHARGED FROM HOSPITAL
Outside the NYU Langone Health emergency room entrance on April 6, 2020, in New York City. (Noam Galai/Getty Images)
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Montgomery stated that his team successfully treated Looney, and no signs of rejection have been detected since.
The duration of Looney’s new kidney’s function is unpredictable, and in case of failure, she could undergo dialysis again.
“The truth is we don’t really know what the next hurdles are because this is the first time we’ve gotten this far,” Montgomery mentioned. “We’ll have to continue to really keep a close eye on her.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
