A pig’s heart beating in a human? This medical feat has already been achieved – at least for a short time.
Kidneys from animals have also been transplanted. Last year, a 62-year-old man lived with a pig kidney for almost two months before he died of a sudden heart disease, as recently reported in the New England Journal of Medicine.
There is growing hope that organs from animals can help ease the global shortage of donor organs.
The US Food and Drug Administration has now, for the first time, allowed clinical trials for the transplantation of pig kidneys. The biotech company United Therapeutics plans to include up to 50 people in the study this summer; the second company involved is eGenesis.