Doctors at the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhul Medical University in China transplanted a liver from a pig into a 71-year-old man in May 2024. Courtesy Dr. Beicheng Sun

Doctors in China say they transplanted a genetically modified pig liver into a 71-year-old man who lived 171 days after the procedure, and 38 of those days were with the pig organ in place – a first to be published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Scientists have had early success transplanting genetically modified pig kidneys and hearts into humans, and pig livers have been transplanted into people who were brain-dead. But experts in the field of xenotransplantation – using animal organs in people – have had some concerns about whether the liver would be a good candidate for such a procedure.

“Everyone always says, ‘oh,

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