Chinese medical teams have successfully treated a patient with acute-on-chronic liver failure using ex vivo perfusion with a gene-edited pig liver, marking what researchers are calling a world first. The treatment, conducted at Xijing Hospital in Xi’an, Shaanxi province, involved temporarily utilizing a six-gene-edited pig liver to support the patient’s failing organ functions, according to a report Wednesday from China Science Daily.
The breakthrough procedure was a collaborative effort led by Dou Kefeng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of the Department of Hepatobiliary Surgery at Xijing Hospital and involved more than 20 departments within the Air Force Medical University of PLA, including Tangdu Hospital. The team connected the patient to a normothermic mechanical perfusion device linked to the pig liver, creating a system where the xenogeneic organ temporarily assumed key detoxification, synthetic, and metabolic roles whereas the patient’s native liver remained in place.
Unlike traditional liver transplantation, this approach employs extracorporeal life support, offering a potential bridging therapy for patients awaiting donor organs. The pig liver, genetically modified to minimize the risk of rejection, demonstrated excellent perfusion and bile secretion during the 66-hour treatment, with the perfusion device operating normally, China Science Daily reported. Following the treatment, key liver function indicators – including bilirubin levels, transaminases, and prothrombin activity – showed sustained and significant improvement.
According to the report, the patient remains in stable condition, with physiological and biochemical indicators approaching normal levels. Dou Kefeng indicated that the preliminary success represents a significant milestone in the field of xenotransplantation. This combined model of “gene-edited organs plus extracorporeal life support” pioneers a fresh approach to the application of xenogeneic organs, providing organ function support without removing the patient’s native organ.
The development comes as China faces a significant imbalance between the supply of and demand for organ transplants. Data from 2024 indicates that over 400 million people in China live with liver diseases, with approximately 200,000 hospitalized annually for acute or acute-on-chronic liver failure. Similar research is underway in the United States, with scientists awaiting Food and Drug Administration approval for ex vivo pig liver perfusion, according to a report from Scientific American published in October 2025.
In March 2024, a team led by Qin Weijun at Xijing Hospital also performed a transplant of a genetically modified pig kidney into a brain-dead recipient, demonstrating further progress in xenotransplantation techniques. A separate study, published in the Journal of Hepatology in October 2025, detailed the transplant of a segment of a genetically modified pig liver into a patient with cancer, where the transplanted section functioned for 38 days before being removed due to complications. The patient subsequently lived for another 133 days before dying from gastrointestinal bleeding.
