New York. An Alabama woman is recovering well after receiving a pig kidney transplant last month, ending eight years of dialysis in the latest effort to save human lives with animal organs.

Towana Looney, 53, is the fifth American to receive a gene-edited pig organ—and notably, she was not as sick as previous recipients, who died within two months of receiving similar transplants.

"It's like a new beginning," Looney told The Associated Press. "The energy I had was amazing. To have a working kidney—and to feel it—is unbelievable."

The surgery marks an important step as scientists prepare for formal xenotransplantation studies expected to begin next year, said Dr. Robert Montgomery of NYU Langone Health, who led the experimental procedure.

Looney is recovering well following the Nov. 25 transplant, which was announced Tuesday. She was discharged from the hospital just 11 days after surgery to continue recovery nearby but was briefly readmitted this week while her medications were adjusted. Doctors expect her to return home to Alabama in three months. If the pig kidney fails, she could resume dialysis.

"To see hope restored to her and her family is extraordinary," said Dr. Jayme Locke, Looney's original surgeon, who secured Food and Drug Administration permission for the transplant.

More than 100,000 people are on the US transplant waiting list, most needing a kidney. Thousands die waiting, while many others never qualify. To address the organ shortage, scientists are genetically altering pigs so their organs better resemble human ones.

Looney previously donated a kidney to her mother in 1999. However, a pregnancy complication caused high blood pressure that damaged her remaining kidney, leading to failure. It is rare for living donors to develop kidney failure, though those who do receive priority on the transplant list.

Still, Looney could not find a match. Her immune system had developed antibodies primed to attack any human donor kidney.

Upon learning about pig kidney research at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Looney approached Locke—then a UAB transplant surgeon—about the possibility of trying one. In April 2023, Locke filed an FDA application seeking permission for the emergency procedure under special rules for patients without other options.

The FDA did not immediately approve the request. Instead, the world’s first gene-edited pig kidney transplants were performed on two critically ill patients last spring, at Massachusetts General Hospital and NYU. Both patients also had severe heart disease. The Boston patient recovered enough to spend a month at home before dying of sudden cardiac arrest, deemed unrelated to the pig kidney. NYU's patient experienced heart complications that damaged her pig kidney, forcing its removal. She later died.

These outcomes did not deter Looney, who, despite worsening symptoms on dialysis, had avoided heart disease or other complications. The FDA ultimately approved her transplant at NYU, where Locke collaborated with Montgomery.

Even if the pig kidney fails, Looney said, doctors can learn from her case. "You don't know if it's going to work or not until you try."

Revivicor, a Blacksburg, Virginia-based company, provided the kidney, sourced from a pig with 10 gene alterations. Moments after Montgomery connected it, the organ turned healthy pink and began producing urine.

Looney was initially discharged on Dec. 6, wearing monitors to track her blood pressure, heart rate, and other bodily functions. She returned daily for checkups before her brief readmission this week. Doctors continue to monitor her closely, analyzing her bloodwork and comparing it to prior research in animals and humans to detect early signs of potential complications.

"A lot of what we're seeing, we're seeing for the first time," Montgomery said.

During a visit last week with Locke—who now works for the federal government—Looney hugged her longtime doctor, saying, "Thank you for not giving up on me."

"Never," Locke responded.