organ transplants

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.

An Alabama woman received a pig kidney transplant last month and is free from dialysis for the first time eight years. Towana Looney is the fifth American given a gene-edited pig organ in a quest to make animal-to-human transplants a reality.

Officials at Children's of Alabama have announced the hospital has begun performing organ transplants. Hospital spokeswoman Kathy Bowers says the hospital…