Transplanted pig kidney patient leaves hospital to go home
The first patient to receive a kidney transplant from a genetically modified pig recovered so well that he was released from hospital on Wednesday, just two weeks after the groundbreaking surgery.The transplant and its encouraging results represent a remarkable moment in medicine, scientists say, perhaps heralding an era of cross-species organ transplants.Two previous organ transplants from genetically modified pigs have failed. Both patients received hearts and both died a few weeks later. In one patient there were signs that the immune system had rejected the organ, a constant risk.But the kidney transplanted to Richard Slayman, 62, produces urine, removes waste products from the blood, balances body fluids and performs other key functions, according to his doctors at Massachusetts Gen...