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Translational immunology

A pig with functional human immunity

Nature Biomedical Engineering (2025)Cite this article

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Genetically modified immunodeficient pigs support the development of functional human B and T cells and represent a preclinical model for investigating human haematopoiesis and a bioreactor for large-scale production of human immune cells for diverse therapies.

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Fig. 1: Potential applications of the engineered pig in human cell and tissue production.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Animal Science, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA

    Christopher K. Tuggle

  2. Food Safety and Enteric Pathogens Unit, USDA-ARS-National Animal Disease Center, Ames, IA, USA

    Crystal L. Loving

  3. Department of Pediatrics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, USA

    Beau R. Webber

Authors
  1. Christopher K. Tuggle
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  2. Crystal L. Loving
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  3. Beau R. Webber
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Christopher K. Tuggle.

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The authors declare no competing interests.

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Tuggle, C.K., Loving, C.L. & Webber, B.R. A pig with functional human immunity. Nat. Biomed. Eng (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-025-01426-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41551-025-01426-4

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