NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with bioethicist and professor at Lehigh University, Michael Gusmano, about the ethics of using cloned, genetically modified pigs for human organ transplants.

In a first step toward FDA approval of kidney xenotransplantation, a living human with end-stage kidney disease may receive a ...

Pigs have emerged as especially promising, because they are easy to breed and their organs are genetically similar to human organs. Cross-species transplantation — or xenotransplantation ...

To prevent the human immune system from attacking these alien organs, scientists have begun to breed genetically modified donor pigs that lack certain genes or have other genes added.

Pig-to-human transplants. ... Eventually, researchers hope to breed pigs with these genetic changes, which will be cheaper and easier to make at the scale needed to provide for human organs.

Pigs and humans are pretty similar. Our organs, our skin and the way many diseases develop are largely the same. Pigs have therefore long been used to develop and test new medicines, even though ...

Scientists are optimistic that gene-edited animals could provide a new source of organs for transplantation. Pig organs modified to minimize rejection are now being tested in humans.

In the future, you might leave your doctor’s office with a prescription for a pig whose DNA has been modified to match your own. Scientists are already working on genetically engineering pigs to ...

For the new study, scientists picked the Yucatan breed of pig because it has a similar weight to the average American woman: about 150 pounds. Its kidney is also about the same size as a human’s.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with bioethicist and professor at Lehigh University, Michael Gusmano, about the ethics of using cloned, genetically modified pigs for human organ transplants.

NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with bioethicist and professor at Lehigh University, Michael Gusmano, about the ethics of using cloned, genetically modified pigs for human organ transplants.