First: The human heart is obtained from a genetically modified pig

In the United States, doctors have for the first time implanted the heart of a genetically modified pig into a human.

David Bennett, 57, who was battling a life-threatening heart condition, underwent experimental surgery at a Maryland hospital to save his life. The surgery took place on January 7th. It’s too early to tell if it’s successful, but doctors say the man is feeling better The New York Times.

“The heart is working, it seems normal. We’m excited, but we do not know what’s coming tomorrow because no one has done this before,” said Bartley Griffith, one of the doctors involved.

The man will die if the transplant is not performed. The newspaper says the man said “I want to live” the day before the surgery. “I know this is an unknown step, but it’s my last choice.”

‘Endless supply of elements’

First, experts hope that medicine will open the door to organ transplantation in the future. “If it works, it’s giving patients endless organs,” the director of the hospital’s alternative program told the news agency. AP.

The director of an American transplant surgery organization raises expectations: “These events can be elevated on a large scale, but it is important to have perspective. It will take a lot of time to perform these types of operations on a large scale.”

Last year, for the first time a pig’s kidney was transplanted into a human. The recipient of the organ is a brain tumor caused by renal failure. The kidney, which is fitted like a heart, is also genetically engineered. As a result, the genes of the organ are modified so that the organ is not immediately rejected by the body.

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