What's Hot and What's New in Xenotransplantation From the Young Investigator Committee of the IXA–Basic and Translational Science

Xenotransplantation has been iteratively improved over the last decade in pre-clinical models, with first-in-human clinical trials underway. The 2025 IXA Congress in Geneva was held in parallel with meetings involving World Health Organization leaders to support the development of new guidance on xenotransplantation in this rapidly evolving field. Key scientific themes of the meeting included the introduction of multiple-gene edited pigs for xenotransplantation research and clinical trials, better characterization of innate and adaptive immune responses and xenograft preservation that optimizes ramifications of ischemia-reperfusion injury during implantation. This comes at a time when gene-edited pig organs are being used for human xenotransplantation, a development that demands safety, reproducibility, durability, and a clear mechanistic understanding of rejection and tolerance.