Nature Biomedical Engineering reports one orthotopic six-gene-edited pig-to-human liver transplant in a brain-deceased person. Albumin and bile continued for 11 days; microthrombosis and coagulopathy cut function later. No second independent newsroom filed a same-week original on this 16 September paper.
Nature Biomedical Engineering, published 16 September 2026, reports an orthotopic pig-to-human liver xenotransplant in a person already declared brain-dead. The authors say xenogeneic livers had offered auxiliary support before, but placing the organ in the native liver site remained hard given the immune and physiological load. The report is one decedent case, not a living-patient series.[1]
Across 11 days of watching, the organ kept making albumin and bile of normal composition, though at a relatively low level. Blood pressure stayed up, even while poor liver blood flow from small clots went with a late drop in function. Clotting trouble showed up as falling platelet counts and weaker clotting-factor activity. Tissue slides showed little T-cell or B-cell infiltration and some IgG, plus strong innate-immune turn-on and IgM-led complement turn-on.[1]
The authors say endothelial damage, microthrombosis and coagulopathy remain critical challenges, and they highlight genetic engineering and targeted immunosuppression as the path for clinical translation. Independent same-week newsroom accounts of this 16 September orthotopic decedent paper were not retrieved: Medical Xpress timed out, a Medscape item in the search index described a 2025 10-day auxiliary case rather than this 11-day orthotopic report. Those misses are ladder results, not extra clinical facts. The paper does not test a living recipient.[1]
