COLLEGE PARK, MARYLAND — A man from the U.S. has become the first person to get a heart transplant from a pig, according to the University of Maryland School of Medicine.
The pig used for the transplant was genetically modified to remove a gene that produces a sugar which in turn triggers an immune response in humans.
The surgeon who performed the surgery at the University of Maryland Medical Center said the patient’s condition — heart failure and an irregular heartbeat — meant he was not eligible for either a human heart transplant or a heart pump, according to The Guardian.
On Monday, the patient was reported to be breathing on his own while being monitored, though his surgeon, Bartley Griffith, said that exactly what will happen next is unclear.
Last October, surgeons in New York said they had successfully transplanted a pig's kidney into a person, but in that instance the recipient was already brain dead.
Though the heart has been genetically modified, and the patient has already passed the ‘hyperacute rejection phase,’ a further treatment plan has been designed to work against upcoming immune responses.
