A significant step forward in xenotransplantation has been achieved with a patient living for 271 days with a transplanted pig kidney. The patient, a 66-year-old man, received the transplant and was able to support renal function without needing dialysis.

The pig kidney was eventually replaced with a human kidney, a transplant that has kept the patient alive. Researchers have published their findings in The Lancet medical journal, noting that the transplanted pig kidney can safely serve as a bridge to a subsequent human kidney transplant.

Further details on this breakthrough are available, including the patient's treatment and the implications for future xenotransplantation procedures.