An Alabama woman has made national headlines after becoming the only person in the world with a functioning pig organ.

Doctors and medical professionals believe that animal organ transplants, like the one Towana Looney received, are a viable solution to the organ supply crisis currently affecting thousands.

Looney, 53, donated a kidney to her mother in 1999 but developed kidney failure several years later after a complication during pregnancy caused damaging high blood pressure. Less than 1 percent of living donors develop kidney failure, but those who do need a transplant are given higher priority on the waiting list.

She was placed on the list for kidney transplantation in early 2017, but it proved difficult to find a suitable match: the unusually high levels of harmful antibodies in her blood made a form of transplant rejection likely. She remained on the transplant waiting list for nearly eight years while losing accessible blood vessels to support dialysis.

With her condition worsening, Looney was authorized to receive a pig kidney with 10 gene edits under the Food and Drug Administration’s expanded access program. The program allows investigational medical products to be used outside of clinical trials when a patient has a life-threatening condition.

Looney traveled to New York last month to have the transplant procedure at NYU Langone Health.

“We must at all costs protect our heroes who themselves have given the gift of life to someone else,” said Robert Montgomery, MD, DPhil, who led the procedure. “Towana represents the culmination of progress we have made in xenotransplantation since we performed the first surgery in 2021. She serves as a beacon of hope to those struggling with kidney failure. All the physicians, researchers, nurses, administrators, and perioperative care teams at NYU Langone Health involved in making this moment possible are so thrilled for her, and I couldn’t be more proud of what they have done to improve Towana’s life through this incredible scientific achievement.”

Looney called the kidney transplant a blessing.

“I feel like I’ve been given another chance at life. I cannot wait to be able to travel again and spend more quality time with my family and grandchildren.”

Additionally, she is the first person to receive a kidney from a pig with 10 gene edits. Gene editing is a process that modifies an animal’s DNA to make its organs more compatible with humans and reduce the risk of rejection.

Austen Shipley is a staff writer for Yellowhammer News. You can follow him on X @ShipleyAusten