On the heels of some important “firsts” this past year, xenotransplantation — grafting animal organs into humans — is on the cusp of crossing over into new territory: human trials.
In January, University of Maryland surgeons transplanted a pig heart into a 57-year-old man, who survived two months. And last fall, New York University doctors implanted pig kidneys into recently deceased individuals to show there wouldn’t be immediate rejection of the organs. As exciting as these procedures were for researchers who have been trying to make xenotransplantation a reality, they highlighted the slow pace of clinical development, which has been stalled in primate studies for decades. Read more.
