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Man receives world's first pig kidney transplant

A sixty-two-year old man in Boston in the United States has received a kidney from a genetically engineered pig in the first transplant of its kind. Richard Slayman, whose previously transplanted human kidney began to fail last year, is recovering well after the four-hour surgery last week. His surgeons say they stand on the brink of a "monumental breakthrough".

Newshour's Rebecca Kesby spoke to Dr Winfred Williams who was in the operating room for the surgery.

(Picture: Surgeons prepare the pig kidney for the transplant. Credit: Massachusetts General Hospital)

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5 minutes