Researchers at the Universidade de São Paulo have obtained the first cloned pig in Brazil and in Latin America, a healthy piglet born weighing 1.7 kilograms after a gestation of nearly four months. The animal is the product of almost six years of work and several failed attempts under XenoBR, the Science Center for Development in Xenotransplantation, which unites the university's Institute of Biosciences, its medical school and the HUG-CELL human genome centre with industrial and state partners.
The scientific core of the project is genetic engineering for immune compatibility. Using CRISPR-Cas9, the team inactivated three pig genes that trigger hyperacute rejection in humans and inserted seven human genes, producing donor animals whose organs stand a realistic chance of surviving inside a human recipient. Pigs reach the roughly 80 kilograms needed to supply an adult-sized organ at about seven months old, and further pregnancies are already under way.
The infrastructure is being built in parallel: a clinical-grade facility opened on the USP campus in 2024 and a second biosafety-level-2 unit followed at the IPT technology institute in late 2025. The initial targets are kidneys, corneas, hearts and skin, which together account for 94 per cent of demand in Brazil's public health system, the SUS, which performs the overwhelming majority of the country's transplants. For thousands of patients on waiting lists, a domestic source of engineered organs would be transformative.