Thursday, Sep 10, 2026 The claims desk. Receipts included. POWERED BY LENZ
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Tim Andrews became the first documented pig-kidney recipient to receive a human kidney.

The Claim

Tim Andrews lived with a genetically modified pig kidney for nine months before receiving a deceased-donor human kidney, constituting the first known transition from a pig-kidney xenotransplant to a human kidney transplant.

The Short Version

The evidence supports both the timeline and the historic characterization. Andrews lived with a genetically modified pig kidney for 271 days—about nine months—and subsequently received a deceased-donor human kidney, the first documented transition of this kind. He underwent roughly three months of dialysis between the two organs, so the transition was not immediate.

Caveats

  • The pig kidney was removed after failing, followed by roughly three months of dialysis before the human transplant.
  • “Transition” describes the sequence of transplant types, not a direct or uninterrupted organ swap.
  • The organ developer’s promotional materials have commercial conflicts, although independent reporting and clinical documentation corroborate the case.

The Receipts

  1. Genetically modified pig kidney keeps man alive for record ...

    theguardian.com

  2. Pig kidney works in human body for 271 days - is this the future of organ transplants? - BBC News

    bbc.co.uk

  3. Pig kidney kept a man off dialysis for nine months in world first | New Scientist

    newscientist.com

  4. Man able to live with genetically modified pig kidney for nine months in world first | The Independent

    independent.co.uk

  5. Kidney Xenotransplantation Successful Stop-Gap Until Allotransplantation | Inside Precision Medicine

    insideprecisionmedicine.com

  6. Pig kidney xenotransplant successfully bridges patient with end-stage kidney disease to human transplant

    medicalxpress.com

  7. Longest animal-to-human transplant | Nature Biotechnology

    nature.com

  8. Man's pig kidney fails just shy of setting record

    science.org

  9. Man who received experimental pig kidney transplant now has a human organ | CNN

    cnn.com

  10. Pig kidney removed from New Hampshire man Tim ...

    cnn.com

+ 20 more sources — see the full list on Lenz

Filed Under

Tim Andrews

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