Hundreds of medical personnel paid silent respect as a pig's kidney functioned in a brain-dead man for a record-breaking two months at NYU Langone Health.

The trial ended with useful findings for possible living pig kidney testing, which were shared with the FDA.

"It's a combination of excitement and relief," said Dr. Robert Montgomery, the transplant physician who oversaw the trial.

“Two months is a lot to have a pig kidney in this good a condition. That gives you a lot of confidence” for next attempts.

Montgomery, a heart transplant recipient, believes animal-to-human transplants can alleviate the organ shortage crisis. Over 100,000 people await organs, primarily kidneys, with many dying while waiting.

Traditional xenotransplantation efforts failed due to immediate immune rejection. New attempts involve genetically modifying pigs for more human-like organs. Previous experiments in deceased bodies provided limited insights.

A pig heart patient survived briefly, but the FDA raised questions about organ performance. Montgomery kept Miller on a ventilator for two months to study kidney function.

“I’m so proud of you,” Miller’s sister, Mary Miller-Duffy, said in a tearful farewell at her brother’s bedside this week.

Miller had collapsed and was declared brain-dead, unable to donate his organs because of cancer.

Miller-Duffy donated a man's body for a pig experiment after a difficult decision, receiving a card from a California transplant patient to thank her for her contribution to research.

“This has been quite the journey,” Miller-Duffy said as she and her wife Sue Duffy hugged Montgomery’s team.

On July 14, shortly before his 58th birthday, doctors replaced his own kidneys with one pig kidney and its thymus. The first month saw normal renal function. However, a reduction in urine output indicated possible rejection, which was verified by biopsy. Immunosuppressive medicine was adjusted, and kidney function was satisfactorily recovered.

“We are learning that this is actually doable,” said NYU transplant immunologist Massimo Mangiola.

Researchers analyzed 180 tissue samples from organs, lymph nodes, and digestive tracts to detect potential issues from xenotransplantation, offering valuable insights despite not accurately replicating living outcomes in deceased experiments.

“It looks beautiful, it’s exactly the way normal kidneys look,” Dr. Jeffrey Stern said Wednesday after removing the pig kidney at the 61-day mark for closer examination.

Researchers analyzed 180 tissue samples from organs, lymph nodes, and digestive tracts to detect potential issues from xenotransplantation, offering valuable insights despite not accurately replicating living outcomes in deceased experiments.

Karen Maschke from the Hastings Center, involved in developing ethics and policy recommendations, highlighted their significance. These experiments help distinguish between pigs with multiple genetic alterations and those like Montgomery’s, with a single change that prevents immediate immune rejection.

“Why we’re doing this is because there are a lot of people that unfortunately die before having the opportunity of a second chance at life,” said Mangiola, the immunologist. “And we need to do something about it.”