In a medical milestone, doctors at New York University Langone have performed the world’s first combination pig kidney and heart pump transplant in a living human. The recipient, 54-year-old Lisa Pisano, was diagnosed with terminal kidney disease and heart failure. The procedure is part of ongoing efforts to address the severe shortage of human donor organs through animal-to-human transplantation, or xenotransplantation. Advances in gene-editing technology have made this approach more feasible, allowing scientists to create pigs with reduced compatibility issues with human biology. Pisano’s transplant, which involved a pig kidney with a single gene edit and the implantation of the pig’s thymus, represents an important step in the development of this technology. The success of such transplants could significantly expand the options available for patients facing organ failure.