Enzymatic A-to-O kidney transplant and pig liver graft reported

Researchers in Canada and China have reported two separate milestone procedures that could broaden access to transplantable organs but also underscore remaining scientific and clinical challenges. In one, a donor kidney with blood type A was enzymatically converted to type O and transplanted into a brain-dead recipient; in the other, surgeons implanted a genetically modified pig liver into a living 71-year-old patient. Both procedures were reported this year in peer-reviewed journals and highlight donor-focused approaches to easing organ shortages.

The kidney study, led by teams at the University of British Columbia, West China Hospital and the Vancouver company Avivo Biomedical, used an enzyme platform to remove A antigens from a human kidney, converting it to the universal type O. The converted kidney, described in Nature Biomedical Engineering, was transplanted into a brain-dead, blood type-mismatched recipient using standard surgical protocols and a decedent transplant model. Researchers reported no hyperacute rejection immediately after transplant and that the organ retained physiological function; it produced urine for several days and showed evidence of function for at...