A team at the Jikei University School of Medicine in Tokyo has successfully transplanted kidneys between rat fetuses, marking a key step toward clinical studies involving cross-species organ transplantation.
The researchers said that transplanted kidney tissue in rats not only grew but also produced urine for as long as 150 days post-surgery. The experiment is part of a broader effort to develop fetal organ transplants for conditions such as Potter syndrome, a disorder in which babies are born with kidney failure and underdeveloped lungs.
Professor Takashi Yokoo and his colleagues aim to begin clinical research as early as fiscal 2026 that would temporarily implant pig kidney tissue into human fetuses diagnosed with the condition. The procedure would serve as a bridge until dialysis can begin after birth.
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