Editing pigs, mice and mosquitoes may save lives

ON MARCH 15th 2024, a dark brown, gene-edited pig was driven from its home in the Midwest to a medical facility on the outskirts of Boston, Massachusetts. It had never before been outside the clean room in which it had spent its year-long life. The next day the pig had its kidneys removed. One was for research; the other was transplanted into a man called Richard Slayman. It was the first pig-to-human kidney transplant with a living patient. In the operating theatre at Mass General Hospital, after the surgical team were finished, invited attendees spontaneously clapped.