CCBI News: Kidney Transplants; Xenotransplantation; Transgender Issues

March 17, 2025

Dear Friends of CCBI,

Kidney Transplants

The latest figures (December 2023) from the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) showed that over 49,000 Canadians were living with end-stage kidney disease; 29,000 were on dialysis and 10,356 people were still surviving because they had had a successful kidney transplant. Kidney disease is a terminal condition that requires either a new kidney or painful dialysis sessions that filter waste from the blood and demand several hours at a time, several times a week.

Of 13, 427 people hoping for an organ transplant, 71% were waiting for a kidney. CHIC statistics show that the wait time for patients seeking a kidney from a deceased donor increased between 2014 – 2023 by 10% to approximately 3.8 years, while the wait for an organ from a living donor in dialysis patients improved by 3% (from 311 days in 2014 to 303 days in 2023). Sadly, given the fact that the supply of organs through donation does not meet demand, several patients die while waiting.

The same situation applies in other countries, including the United States, where, of 36 million people with chronic kidney disease, about 800,000 have end-stage kidney disease or kidney failure. Clearly, the need of kidneys for transplants is great.

Xenotransplantation for Kidney Diseases

The possibility of this situation being ameliorated has arisen because of improvements in xenotransplantation, the use of animal organs in humans. There have been several attempts over past decades, but a recent example is showing promise and ‘a glimmer of hope’ for patients who need a transplant.

The success rate of this surgery, however, has so far been low, mainly because of autoimmune responses in patients receiving animal organs. In a new approach, Harvard University nephrologists and surgeons are working on the use of genetically modified pig kidneys in an attempt to remove problematic factors and clear the way for the human body to accept animal organs, instead of the rejection that has usually followed. An article describing the procedure stated that CRISPR-Cas9, a gene-editing technology, was used to modify pig organs, including pig kidneys. The technology was used to:

• Remove certain pig genes that produce sugars with antibodies our immune systems react to.
• Add certain human genes to improve the kidney’s compatibility with humans.
• Inactivate viruses present in all pig genomes, known as porcine endogenous retroviruses, in the donor pig to eliminate risk of infection in the recipient.

A genetically modified pig kidney was transplanted into a patient awaiting a kidney in March, 2024. The patient was approved for the experimental procedure under an FDA Expanded Access Protocol, which is granted to a patient in circumstances where no other treatment options or therapies exist. The patient was aware of the experimental nature of the surgery yet consented, having run out of options and bravely allowing this novel surgery to take place. Although the pig-kidney transplant was successful and his new kidney functioned well, sadly he died two months later of a heart attack. Since then, three other patients with end-stage kidney disease have received similar transplants of genetically modified pig kidneys and are still surviving. One patient, Mr Tim Andrews, said after surgery: “This transplant isn’t about me. It’s about all the people who I met at the dialysis clinic, and I saw what they were going through. There are more than 500,000 people on dialysis, and I want to inspire them to never give up hope because that’s what this transplant provides. It’s a glimmer of hope.”

Given the statistics concerning wait times and given the number of people who die while awaiting organs, this new technique (assuming that longer-terms studies show it to be clearly beneficial) could be an answer to the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people in Canada, the US and beyond who suffer from end-stage kidney disease. It is also, potentially, a breakthrough for the use of animal organs in transplants for other diseases.

As Tim Andrews said: “It’s a glimmer of hope.” Hope! That is surely the real object of medicine – to provide life-saving treatments where possible. That approach is so different from the culture of death that has imbued some areas of the medical world and our society at large!

Transgender Issues

Francis Etheridge is a theologian from England who has authored an interesting collection of works, including bioethical/sexual ethics, and I have contributed chapters to two of them. His latest publication deals with transgender issues from various aspects, including the often-neglected spiritual viewpoint, and one endorser, Professor Fastiggi of Sacred Heart Major Seminary, Detroit, writes: “In this book, Francis Etheredge offers more than an ethical and theological critique of transgenderism. He probes the deeper roots of gender ideology, which are spiritual as well as cultural. Transgenderism is a threat to human identity, and it is linked to other problems such as sexual immorality, marital failure, abortion and antinatalism.”

I plan to analyse and report on this work but, as requested by him, am providing the link for anyone who is interested in reading the book meantime.

Sources

Annual statistics on organ replacement in Canada, 2014 to 2023 | CIHI
In a First, Genetically Edited Pig Kidney Is Transplanted Into Human | Harvard Medical School
Gene-edited kidney and thymus transplanted into N.J. woman : Shots – Health News : NPR
Surgeons Perform Second Pig Kidney Transplant at Massachusetts General Hospital | Harvard Medical School
Francis Etheridge. “Transgenderism: A Question of Identity”, forthcoming from En Route Books and Media, 2025: https://enroutebooksandmedia.com/transgenderism/

Pope Francis’ Intentions for March

For families in crisis
Let us pray that broken families might discover the cure for their wounds through forgiveness, rediscovering each other’s gifts, even in their differences.

Moira and Bambi