Washington, Jan 11: The doctors at University of Maryland medical center have transplanted a genetically modified pig’s heart into a human in a last effort to save his life.
The Guardian quoted the doctors as saying on Monday that the patient was doing well three days after the highly experimental surgery, though it is too soon to know if the operation has been a success.
The transplant is a step in the decades-long quest to use animal organs for life-saving operations.
According to doctors, the transplant has proved that a heart from a enetically modified animal can function in the human body without immediate rejection/
The Guardian quoted the patient, David Bennett, 57, a handyman, as saying, “It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know it’s a shot in the dark, but it’s my last choice.”
On Monday he was breathing on his own while being connected to a heart-lung machine to help his new heart.
“If this works, there will be an endless supply of these organs for patients who are suffering,” said Dr Muhammad Mohiuddin, scientific director of the university’s animal-to-human transplant programme.
