Man receives a pig's heart in the world's first animal to human heart transplant

Scientists in the United States have made a medical first. They were able to put the heart of a genetically modified pig into the body of a 57-year-old man. This could help solve the shortage of organs in the future.

People at the University of Maryland Medical School said in a statement on Monday that the "historic" surgery took place on Friday. A big step forward for animal to human transplantation, "Even though the patient's future isn't certain, this is a big deal,"

The patient, David Bennett, had been told that he couldn't get a human transplant because of his poor health. This is a decision that is often made when the recipient has a lot of other health problems.

He is now on the road to recovery and is being closely watched to see how the new organ works.

"It was either to die or to have this surgery. I want to stay alive. The last thing I want to do is take a risk "he said a day before surgery.

He added,"I look forward to getting out of bed when I get better." Bennett has been on a heart-lung bypass machine for the last few months.

As a last-ditch effort, the Food and Drug Administration gave permission for the surgery on New Year's Eve. The patient was not a good candidate for a traditional organ transplant.

Bartley Griffith, the doctor who transplanted the pig's heart, said that it was a "breakthrough surgery," and that it was one step closer to ending the organ shortage crisis.

"We are taking things slow, but we are also optimistic that this first-of-its-kind surgery will be an important new option for patients in the future."

Mohiuddin, one of the people who started the university's cardiac xenotransplantation programme, said the surgery was the culmination after years of research that involved pigs being transplanted into baboons, with survival times of more than nine months.

"The successful procedure gave us important information about how to improve this potentially life-saving method in the future," added doctors.

Bennett's donor pig came from a herd that had been genetically edited.

Three genes that would have made humans not want to eat pig organs were "turned off," as was a gene that would have made pig heart tissue grow too quickly.

For a total of 10 gene edits, six human genes that help people accept each other were added to the genome.

The editing was done by a biotech company in Virginia called Revivicor, which also made the pig that was used in a kidney transplant in New York in October.

But that surgery was just a proof-of-concept experiment, and the kidney was connected outside the patient's body. The new surgery, on the other hand, is meant to save a person's life.

During the surgery, the team used a new drug made by Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals as well as traditional anti-rejection drugs to keep the body from rejecting the organ.