A Japanese research team including the Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo aims to carry out clinical research to temporarily transplant pig kidneys to a human fetus with a severe kidney disease.

The team is fully starting joint research with Thai and German institutions to confirm the effectiveness and safety at an early time, with an aim to conduct the clinical research in fiscal 2027 at the earliest.

This is expected to be the world’s first xenotransplantation to a human fetus. Xenotransplantation is transplanting cells or organs of one species to another.