An Alabama woman is doing well after the latest experimental pig kidney transplant
By LAURAN NEERGAARD
AP Medical Writer
Updated
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Pig kidney recipient Towana Looney stands with transplant surgeons Dr. Jayme Locke, left, now of the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration and Dr. Robert Montgomery of NYU Langone Health, center, on Dec. 10, 2024, at NYU Langone Health, in New York City. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)
Shelby Lum
Robert Montgomery, MD, DPhil, the H. Leon Pachter, MD, Professor of Surgery, chair of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine Department of Surgery, and director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, reviews a monitor during the gene-edited pig kidney transplant surgery at NYU Langone Health in New York City on Nov. 25, 2024. (Joe Carrotta/NYU Langone Health via AP)
Joe Carrotta
The gene-edited pig kidney is removed from its package in the operating room at NYU Langone Health in New York City on Nov. 25, 2024. (Joe Carrotta for NYU Langone Health via AP)
Joe Carrotta
Pig kidney recipient Towana Looney is visited by Dr. Robert Montgomery of NYU Langone Health, center, on Dec. 10, 2024, at NYU Langone Health, in New York City. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)
NEW YORK — An Alabama woman is recovering well after a pig kidney transplant last month that freed her from eight years of dialysis, the latest effort to save human lives with animal organs.
At issue is a once widely used test that overestimated how well their kidneys functioned, making them look healthier than they really were.
Pig kidney recipient Towana Looney stands with transplant surgeons Dr. Jayme Locke, left, now of the U.S. Health Resources & Services Administration and Dr. Robert Montgomery of NYU Langone Health, center, on Dec. 10, 2024, at NYU Langone Health, in New York City. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)
Robert Montgomery, MD, DPhil, the H. Leon Pachter, MD, Professor of Surgery, chair of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine Department of Surgery, and director of the NYU Langone Transplant Institute, reviews a monitor during the gene-edited pig kidney transplant surgery at NYU Langone Health in New York City on Nov. 25, 2024. (Joe Carrotta/NYU Langone Health via AP)
The gene-edited pig kidney is removed from its package in the operating room at NYU Langone Health in New York City on Nov. 25, 2024. (Joe Carrotta for NYU Langone Health via AP)
Pig kidney recipient Towana Looney is visited by Dr. Robert Montgomery of NYU Langone Health, center, on Dec. 10, 2024, at NYU Langone Health, in New York City. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)
