In a groundbreaking medical procedure, a Massachusetts man, Richard Slayman, received the world's first successful transplant of a genetically-edited pig kidney. However, less than two months after the procedure, Slayman has tragically passed away, according to sources.

Slayman, a 62-year-old resident of Weymouth, underwent surgery at Massachusetts General Hospital on March 16. He received a pig kidney that had undergone 69 genomic edits to improve its compatibility with humans. Following weeks of recovery, Slayman was discharged from Mass General on April 3, claiming to have one of the "cleanest bills of health" he had experienced in a long time.

Sources have clarified that there is no indication that the patient's death was related to the transplant. Slayman had been living with Type 2 diabetes and hypertension for many years, and he suffered from end-stage kidney disease at the time of the pig kidney transplant. Previously, in December 2018, he had received a kidney transplant from a deceased human donor after undergoing seven years of dialysis.

Unfortunately, Slayman's transplanted human kidney began to show signs of failure approximately five years later, and he resumed dialysis in May 2023. This led to recurrent dialysis vascular access complications, which significantly impacted his quality of life and required frequent visits to the hospital for de-clotting and surgical revisions.

Given the challenges he faced and the potential to provide hope for others, Slayman's nephrologist and the MGH Transplant Center team suggested a pig kidney transplant. Slayman saw this as an opportunity not just to help himself but also to offer hope to the thousands of individuals in need of a transplant to survive.

The pig kidney used for the transplantation was provided by eGenesis, a Cambridge-based company. The pig donor had been genetically edited using advanced technology to remove harmful pig genes and incorporate specific human genes, enhancing compatibility with humans. As an additional safety precaution, scientists deactivated porcine endogenous retroviruses in the pig donor, thus eliminating any risk of infection in humans.

The procedure was conducted under an FDA Expanded Access Protocol, also known as compassionate use. This program grants access to experimental treatments or trials when no comparable treatment options or therapies are available for patients with serious, life-threatening conditions.

While Richard Slayman's passing is undoubtedly tragic, his participation in this groundbreaking procedure paves the way for further advancements in the field of organ transplantation. The medical community will continue to study and learn from this case as they strive to improve the lives of patients in need of life-saving transplantations.