Pig Lung Transplant, Beverage Merger, and Eagle Sounds

Good morning. It's Tuesday, Aug. 26, and we're covering a first for pig-to-human lung transplants, a multibillion-dollar deal between beverage giants, and much more. First time reading? Join over 4.5 million intellectually curious readers. Sign up here.

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 Need To Know 

Pig Lung Transplant

Chinese scientists have successfully transplanted a pig lung into a human being for the first time, with the organ partially functioning before it was removed. 

Researchers used CRISPR technology (see 101) to make six gene edits to the left lung of a pig whose organs are roughly human-sized. They then transferred the lung into a brain-dead 39-year-old man. At first, the lung succeeded in delivering oxygen to his blood and removing carbon dioxide. Within 24 hours, however, there were signs of damage, and indications that the body was rejecting the organ on days three and nine. Scientists ended the experiment following fluid buildup. The patient was removed from life support per his family's wishes.

Researchers believe further experimentation could help improve retention of the lung, since even human-to-human lung transplants often fail sooner, within hours. Researchers hope pig-to-human transplants will help eliminate long wait times for organs, including lungs, kidneys, hearts, and livers.

Caffeine Market Shake-Up

American beverage conglomerate Keurig Dr Pepper announced plans yesterday to acquire Dutch coffee giant JDE Peet's for roughly $18B. The all-cash transaction would consolidate their coffee businesses into a new company. Keurig Dr Pepper’s remaining portfolio—including Snapple and 7UP—would become a separate entity, effectively undoing an $18.7B acquisition from 2018. Keurig Dr Pepper shares fell 11.5% on the news.

Keurig Dr Pepper reported coffee sales down nearly 2% from January to June, while refreshment beverage sales rose 10.7%. Meanwhile, JDE Peet’s reported a 19.8% sales increase over the same period. Executives framed the acquisition as a maneuver to enhance both companies' access to the $400B global coffee market. This comes as US coffee prices rose 14.5% year over year in July, compared to a 2.9% increase in food prices. Droughts in Brazil and Vietnam, plus US tariffs, have contributed to rising coffee costs.

The move mirrors strategies by food manufacturers like Kellogg's, which split its well-performing snacks and struggling cereal divisions.

Commercial Carbon Storage

The world’s first commercial offshore carbon storage facility began operating yesterday off Norway's western coast. The Northern Lights project—led by oil giants Equinor, Shell, and TotalEnergies—aims to cut industrial carbon dioxide emissions by capturing carbon from smokestacks and injecting it beneath the North Sea seabed for permanent storage. 

Captured CO2 is liquefied, shipped to a terminal, and pushed through a 68-mile pipeline into the seabed’s geological reservoirs about 1.6 miles below the ocean floor (see process). The first CO2 injection came from a cement plant in southeast Norway. Norway’s state-backed project currently has a storage capacity of 1.7 million tons of CO2 per year and targets an increase to 5.5 million tons by 2030.

Although endorsed as a climate tool by the UN, carbon capture and storage is expensive, complex, and viewed as controversial. Critics argue that the method potentially extends the use of fossil fuels and redirects resources from renewable energy. See an overview of carbon capture here.

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