Asia's second patient to receive a gene-edited pig's kidney transplant celebrated his 52nd birthday recently, one month after his surgery at Xijing Hospital in Xi'an, Shaanxi province.

After being diagnosed with uremia, Zhang Li (not his real name) endured 13 years of hemodialysis. He underwent three sessions a week, four hours each time, which left him physically and mentally exhausted.

As his condition deteriorated, he developed severe complications, including coronary heart disease. He underwent coronary stent implantation and coronary artery bypass grafting successively, and had both kidneys removed due to polycystic kidney disease.