A New Hampshire man is resuming dialysis after living with a gene-edited pig kidney for a record 271 days, doctors said Monday.

His experience is helping researchers in their quest for animal-to-human transplants.

Tim Andrews, 67, had the organ removed on Oct. 23 because its function was declining, according to Mass General Brigham.

In a statement, his transplant team called Andrews “a selfless medical pioneer and an inspiration” to patients with kidney failure .

Andrews’ experience illustrates lessons researchers have learned with each experiment involving what’s called xenotransplantation.

The first attempts using pig organs gene-edited to be more humanlike – two hearts and two kidneys – were short-lived.

Then researchers began considering patients not nearly as sick as prior

See Full Page