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The world's first successful animal to human heart transplantation, from a genetically modified pig to a 57 year old man, was carried out in Maryland, USA.
The extraordinary operation, undertaken by a team of surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical School, marks a major medical breakthrough in xenotransplantation and promises to remedy the lingering dearth of organ donations.
Surgeon Bartley Griffith carried out the operation.
Given his pre-existing health conditions, a human heart transplant was ruled out by surgeons for patient David Bennett.
Nevertheless, his post surgical healing is going well but final results are anxiously awaited.
The University of Maryland Medical School's director of the cardiac xenotransplant program, Muhammad Mohiuddin weighs in.
Sourced from a herd which had undergone genetic editing, the pig had three genes which have resulted in porcine organ rejection in previous transplantation attempts, and a fourth which leads to excess pig heart tissue growth removed.
The genome had an additional 6 genes from humans edited in, so as to ensure acceptance into the human body.
With their size, large litters and fast growth, pigs are an optimal source for organ donation.
Muhammad Mohiuddin is convinced that the fate of thousands of patients who die annually from the lack of available organs for transplant, will change with the advancement in xenotransplantation from genetically modified organs.
