Historical perspectives on xenotransplantation

In January, 2022, David Bennett Sr, a 57-year-old patient with a severe heart condition, received a heart transplant from a genetically modified pig. The procedure by surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center, USA, took about 8 h to complete. Although the patient died some 2 months after the surgery, the operation has been heralded as “a watershed event”, that might offer hope to thousands of patients worldwide waiting for organ transplants.