A team of doctors in Japan is set to apply for an internal review on Friday of a clinical study to transplant pig kidneys into human fetuses with severe kidney disease.
The doctors from the Jikei University School of Medicine and the National Center for Child Health and Development aim to perform Japan’s first xenotransplantation — the transplantation of organs from one species to another.
The doctors say they plan to transplant kidneys from pig fetuses into two unborn human babies diagnosed with Potter syndrome, a condition in which the kidneys do not function, preventing the production of urine.
The doctors will submit their plan on Friday to a panel of experts in regenerative medicine and bioethics that was set up for the internal review at Jikei University.
According to the proposal, the transplanted kidneys will be removed when the patients become able to undergo dialysis. The doctors plan to monitor their progress for 10 years.
The panel is expected to examine whether the surgery can be performed safely and whether ethical considerations, such as explanations to mothers, are adequately addressed.
The doctors also plan to have their proposal reviewed by another screening panel at the National Center for Child Health and Development.
They say that if everything goes well, they hope to submit the surgery plan to the government during the next fiscal year, which will end on March 31, 2026.
The team leader, Professor Yokoo Takashi at the Jikei University School of Medicine, says they hope to move toward practical application with society’s understanding to save the lives of babies that would otherwise be lost.