A severely ill 54-year-old woman earlier this month became the second person to receive a kidney transplanted from a genetically modified pig, surgeons at NYU Langone Health in New York announced on Wednesday. The patient, who had both heart failure and kidney failure, was given the organ on April 12, just eight days after receiving a mechanical heart pump. Surgical teams at NYU Langone carried out the two procedures over the course of nine days. The kidney came from a genetically engineered pig provided by United Therapeutics Corporation, a biotech company. The pig carried a gene for producing a sugar called alpha-gal that had been “knocked out,” or blocked.

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Persons: NYU Langone, Lisa Pisano, “ Organizations: NYU Langone Health, NYU, United Therapeutics Corporation Locations: New York, New Jersey