Missouri Expands National Swine Research Center

The University of Missouri is growing its swine research facilities with NIH-funded grants, adding space and capacity for medical studies.

Updated on Nov. 3, 2026 in Life Sciences

Wide view of a low brick and steel research barn beside open green farmland, with pigs resting in a pen under a pale sky. — The University of Missouri is expanding its National Swine Resource and Research Center with an $8 million NIH-funded grant, adding a 12,000-square-foot South Farm facility. AI Illustration. Upload story photo >

The University of Missouri's National Swine Resource and Research Center is expanding with an NIH-funded $8 million grant. A 12,000-square-foot South Farm Swine Research and Education Facility addition, funded by a $5 million NIH Health Resources and Services Administration grant, has also been completed.

Why it matters

Pigs are physiologically similar to humans, making them a valuable model for medical research. The expansion supports studies of genetically modified pigs used to explore conditions including cystic fibrosis, retinitis pigmentosa, and cancer.

The NIH-funded expansion totals roughly $13 million across two grants, with the South Farm addition contributing 12,000 square feet of new research space. The report does not detail how capacity increases will be distributed across ongoing studies.

The players

National Swine Resource and Research Center

A research center at the University of Missouri that provides swine models for biomedical studies.

National Institutes of Health

The U.S. federal agency that funds biomedical and health research, including the grants supporting this expansion.

Duke Health

The academic health system whose surgeons performed a partial heart transplant in a six-month-old baby in 2022.

The details

Researchers at the center use gene editing technology to delete molecules from pig cells, and pig organs and tissues are transplanted into other species through xenotransplantation. Knockout pigs first created in the early 2000s were engineered to resist porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus.

Early 2000s: Knockout pigs were first created to resist porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus.
2022: Duke Health surgeons performed a partial heart transplant in a six-month-old baby.
2025: The South Farm addition was intended for completion.

Big Picture

The expansion follows the research trajectory set by the 2022 Duke Health partial heart transplant in a six-month-old baby, which relied on genetically modified pigs. Pig-to-human transplants are not yet mainstream, so the new capacity extends an experimental field rather than a clinical standard.

Medical research advances built on animal models can eventually shape new treatments for conditions like cystic fibrosis and cancer. Pig-based transplantation remains experimental, so patients should not expect near-term access to these procedures.

The takeaway

Expanded animal research infrastructure can accelerate the development of medical therapies, but experimental transplant methods still require years of testing before reaching routine care.