Surgeons trial transplanting a pig heart into a brain‑dead person Joe Carrotta/Nyu Langone Health
On 7 January, David Bennett, a 57-year-old with terminal heart failure, became the first person to receive a genetically modified pig heart. While he died two months later, his surgery still marked a significant step forward.
Several months after Bennett’s procedure, surgeons at NYU Langone Health in New York transplanted modified pig hearts into two brain-dead people on life support. The hearts pumped blood for three days before the researchers ended the study.
Xenotransplantation, the use of animal organs…
