Towana Looney, an Alabama woman, is making history. She is now the longest-living person with a functional pig organ transplant. At 53, she has passed the critical two-month mark with her new pig kidney, and doctors say she is doing remarkably well.
"I’m superwoman," Looney told The Associated Press.
Looney’s success is more than just a medical marvel. It is a beacon of hope for thousands of people on transplant waiting lists. While four other Americans have received experimental pig organ transplants, none survived for more than two months. She is the first. And she is thriving.
It Marks a Breakthrough Moment
Pig organ transplants are at the cutting edge of medicine. Scientists are tweaking pig genes to make their organs more human-like, offering a potential fix for the dire organ shortage. More than 100,000 people in the U.S. need a transplant.
Most of them require a kidney. Thousands die every year because they can’t get one in time.
NY Times / After 61 days with a pig kidney, doctors say her function is "absolutely normal."
The FDA only approves pig organ transplants for patients with no other options. Looney was one of them. She had given one of her kidneys to her mother in 1999. Later, pregnancy complications led to high blood pressure, which eventually caused kidney failure.
Dialysis became her only lifeline for eight years - until doctors told her she was unlikely to ever get a human kidney due to her body’s aggressive antibodies.
A Life-Changing Experiment
Looney was not willing to accept the odds. When NYU Langone Health offered her a pig kidney transplant, she didn’t hesitate. Dr. Robert Montgomery, a leader in pig organ research, performed the surgery on November 25.
Since then, Looney’s new kidney has functioned "absolutely normal."
Her case is unique. Other pig organ transplant recipients were much sicker when they underwent surgery. Looney, by contrast, was relatively healthy despite her kidney failure. That is why doctors believe her success could open the door for more patients like her in the future.
The Science Behind Pig Organ Transplants
Pig organ transplants, or xenotransplantation, have come a long way. Scientists are using gene-editing tools to remove harmful pig genes and add human-compatible ones. The goal is to make pig organs safer and more effective for human use.
GTN / Massachusetts General Hospital’s Dr. Tatsuo Kawai, who performed the world’s first pig kidney transplant in 2023, says Looney’s case is a "very precious experience."
Every bit of data collected from her recovery helps fine-tune future procedures.
However, one major hurdle is the human immune system. It sees pig organs as foreign and tries to attack them. Doctors counter this with powerful anti-rejection drugs. In Looney’s case, they detected early signs of rejection around the three-week mark. Thanks to past research, they knew exactly what to do.
Pig Organ Transplant Can Save Millions of Lives
Looney’s journey is not just about her. It is about the thousands of people who could one day benefit from pig organ transplants. If scientists perfect the process, it could revolutionize medicine. Patients wouldn’t have to wait years for a human organ.
They wouldn’t have to die on dialysis. A pig kidney could save them.
Looney is still under close observation in New York, but her doctors are hopeful. If all goes well, she will return to her home in Gadsden, Alabama, in about a month.
For now, she is simply enjoying her newfound energy. "I feel good," she says. "I feel normal."And for the first time in years, she has a future that doesn’t revolve around dialysis.
