National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

A self-described science nerd is the latest American to get an experimental pig kidney transplant, at a crucial point in the quest to prove if animal organs really might save human lives. The 54-year-old New Hampshire man is faring well after his June 14 operation, doctors at Massachusetts General Hospital announced Monday. This follows a similar record-setting operation involving an Alabama woman.

An Alabama woman passed a major milestone over the weekend following groundbreaking surgery. Towana Looney is the longest living patient to receive a transplanted organ of a pig. In her case, a kidney. Her doctor in New York City says organ is absolutely normal. The FDA allows pig organ transplantation when patients are out of options.

Diabetes remains a major health problem in Alabama. The State’s Department of Public Health listed the ailment as the seventh-biggest cause of death here in 2019. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says one in five diabetes patients in the U.S. don’t know they have the disease. Denmark is working on its own rising caseload, and a possible solution. This story was made possible by a grant by the Caring Foundation.

The violence continues at a prison in south Alabama. APR’s Pat Duggins has more on the latest incident, and how it appears to be following a pattern.The…