Kovalchuk spoke about the prospects of growing organs in mini-pigs

Organs that are grown in mini-pigs can later be transplanted to humans after scientists modify them for the patient. This was announced on June 20 by Mikhail Kovalchuk, President of the Kurchatov Institute National Research Center (NRC), at the Healthy Longevity Without Compromise session at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF-2025).

According to Kovalchuk, at the Institute of Medical Primatology, which is part of the Kurchatov Institute, scientists are already able to prolong the life of monkeys by transplanting organs of mini-pigs to primates. So, at the moment, the institute owns the world's only collection of elderly monkeys.

"We import mini-pigs, they are the most suitable model for growing organs. This is directly related to healthy longevity. You grow organs, pigs are simply fixed, and they are like an incubator for growing organs," Kovalchuk said.

As the President of the National Research Center emphasized, researchers are currently working on the creation of a transplant center. Kovalchuk said that the organ being grown can already be modified for the patient.

Earlier, on February 3, doctors at the N.V. Sklifosovsky Scientific Research Institute of Emergency Medicine successfully performed a heart and kidney transplant on a patient with end-stage heart and kidney failure. It was clarified that the patient complained of chest pain, shortness of breath, weakness and swelling, and general blood circulation was disrupted, which had a devastating effect on the functioning of all organs. Due to the complication of the situation, the doctors decided to transplant not only the heart, but also the kidney.