In May 2024, doctors in China attempted something that had never been done before: transplanting a genetically engineered pig lung into a human body.
The patient was a 39-year-old man who had suffered a brain hemorrhage and was declared brain-dead. With his family’s consent, surgeons at the First Affiliated Hospital of Guangzhou Medical University carried out a procedure that could one day change the future of organ transplantation.
The donor lung came from a genetically modified pig. Using advanced CRISPR technology, scientists had removed three pig genes that normally trigger rejection and added three human genes to help the lung adapt.
For nine days, the lung worked. Blood flowed through it, oxygen exchange happened, and doctors carefully monitored every detail.
“This isn’t just about one patient,” said Dr. He Jianxing, the lead surgeon. “It’s about proving that pig lungs can function inside the human body — even if only for a short time.”
But the path wasn’t smooth. Within 24 hours, fluid built up in the lung. By day three, signs of rejection appeared. And though some recovery was seen, the family decided to end the trial on the ninth day.
For the medical community, it was not failure but progress.
“Lungs are the hardest organ to transplant,” noted one researcher. “They’re fragile, exposed to air, and highly prone to immune attack. Even lasting nine days is a remarkable milestone.”
Today, thousands of patients die every year waiting for donor lungs that never arrive. Scientists believe xenotransplantation — using modified pig organs — could one day bridge that deadly gap.
This first pig lung transplant showed the world what’s possible. The barriers between species may not be unbreakable after all.
And in one hospital in Guangzhou, for nine extraordinary days, a pig’s lung breathed inside a human being
