David Bennett, 57, has become the first person in the world to have his diseased heart replaced by a genetically modified pig’s heart.
David Bennett knew that this would be a ‘do or die’ transplant, and it is still too early to know if it will be successful, but currently he is doing well 3 days after surgery.
Animal alternatives have long been the subject of intense research, and this milestone marks the potential endless supply of organs for patients who are suffering. The pig used in this transplant had been genetically modified to knock out several genes that would have led to the organ being rejected by Mr Bennett’s body. Currently, 17 people a day in the US die waiting for a transplant, with more than 100,000 reportedly on the waiting list.
Xenotransplantation is allowed when a patient has no other options and will otherwise die. In this case, David Bennett was ineligible for a human transplant as he was already in very poor health.
The surgeon who conducted the transplant, Bartley Griffith, has said he realises the magnitude of what was done and he really realises the importance of it.
“We’ve never done this in a human and I like to think that we, we have given him a better option than what continuing his therapy would have been … But whether [he will live for] a day, week, month, year, I don’t know.”