Science Japanese startup pioneers pig-to-monkey kidney transplant

Last Monday, Japanese startup PorMedTec announced a significant breakthrough in xenotransplantation: the successful transplantation of a genetically modified pig kidney into a crab-eating macaque. This groundbreaking procedure, led by researchers from Kagoshima University and Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, represents a first in Japan and holds promise for future human organ transplants.




The 7-year-old male macaque received a kidney from a 2.5-month-old pig, whose genes had been modified to minimize the risk of viral infection and immune rejection. As of Monday afternoon, the monkey remained in stable condition, and the transplanted kidney was functioning normally, as evidenced by urine production.

Hisashi Sahara, one of the lead researchers, expressed optimism about the future of xenotransplantation, stating that the team aims to continue making progress in monkey transplantation research and ultimately pave the way for practical applications in human medicine.

PorMedTec, a company spun out of Meiji University, has produced 39 donor pigs since February, when it first succeeded in creating three clone piglets using cells imported from U.S. biotech startup eGenesis. The firm inserted the nuclei of imported cells into egg cells, creating genetically modified embryos. They then implanted the embryos into the uterus of surrogate mother pigs to produce clone piglets. The startup says it now keeps 13 pigs produced this way, which will be used in more transplants into primates and research on how long the recipient models can survive.

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