, Oct. 23 -- In a landmark medical achievement, Chinese surgeons have successfully transplanted a gene-edited pig liver into a living human patient, who survived 171 days following the operation, marking a major step forward in addressing the global shortage of human donor organs.

The pioneering procedure, detailed in this month's Journal of Hepatology, was led by a team from the First Affiliated Hospital of Anhui Medical University, using a genetically modified pig liver developed by researchers at Yunnan Agricultural University.

The donor pig underwent extensive pathogen testing and a sophisticated 10-gene editing process. Three pig genes responsible for rapid antibody-mediated rejection were removed, while seven human genes were inse...