An American scientific team succeeded in making a genetically modified pig kidney implanted in the body of a brain-dead person continue functioning for a record duration of two months, and researchers announced on Thursday the conclusion of the experiment.

Robert Montgomery, the director of the transplant institute at NYU Langone Health where the experiment was conducted, said in a statement: "We have learned a lot over the past two months through detailed monitoring and analysis, and we have good reasons to be optimistic about the future."

Animal organ transplants into human bodies, known as xenotransplants, could provide a solution to the chronic shortage of kidney donations.

Today, there are more than 100,000 Americans on the waiting list for organ transplants, including about 88,000 who are waiting for kidney transplants.

On July 14, a pig kidney was transplanted into a man who was brain dead and had donated his body for science.

The pig was genetically modified to prevent the human body from immediately rejecting the implanted organ.

After a month, no signs of the body rejecting the kidney were recorded, but scientists announced on Thursday that a mild rejection episode was later recorded, requiring the intensification of immunosuppressive treatments.

NYU Langone's statement clarified that additional results will be published in the coming months.

This team has conducted a number of xenotransplant procedures in recent years, including the world's first pig kidney transplant into a human body in September 2021.

However, all of their previous experiments had only lasted a short time, while the experiment conducted this summer lasted 61 days, a record duration.

Further experiments on deceased individuals are planned.