In a first, US surgeons successfully implant pig’s heart in a human

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US surgeons have successfully implanted a heart from a genetically modified pig in a 57-year-old man, a historic  medical breakthrough that could provide a solution to the chronic shortage of organ donations.</p>
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The historic procedure took place Friday, the University of Maryland Medical School said in a statement on Monday. While the patient's prognosis is far from certain, it represents a major milestone for animal to human transplantation.</p>
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The patient, David Bennett, had been deemed ineligible for human transplant because of his very poor underlying health.</p>
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He is now recovering and being carefully monitored to determine how the new organ performs.</p>
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"This was a breakthrough surgery and brings us one step closer to solving the organ shortage crisis," said Bartley Griffith, who surgically transplanted the pig heart.</p>
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"We are proceeding cautiously, but we are also optimistic that this first-in-the-world surgery will provide an important new option for patients in the future."</p>
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Bennett, who has spent the last several months bedridden on a heart-lung bypass machine, added: "I look forward to getting out of bed after I recover."</p>
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The Food and Drug Administration granted emergency authorization for the surgery on New Year's Eve, as a last ditch effort for a patient who was unsuitable for conventional transplant.</p>
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Muhammad Mohiuddin, who co-founded the university's cardiac xenotransplantation program, said the surgery was the culmination of years or research, involving pig-to-baboon transplants, with survival times that exceeded nine months.</p>
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"The successful procedure provided valuable information to help the medical community improve this potentially life-saving method in future patients," he said.</p>
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The donor pig belonged to a herd that had undergone genetic editing procedures.</p>
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Three genes that would have led to rejection of pig organs by humans were "knocked out," as was a gene that would have led to excessive growth of pig heart tissue.</p>
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Six human genes responsible for human acceptance were inserted into the genome, for a total of 10 unique gene edits.</p>
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The editing was performed by Virginia-based biotech firm Revivicor, which also supplied the pig used in a breakthrough kidney transplant on brain dead patients in New York in October.</p>
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But while that surgery was purely a proof-of-concept experiment, and the kidney was connected outside the patient's body, the new surgery is intended to save a person's life.</p>
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At present pig heart valves are widely used in humans, and pig skin is grafted on human burn victims.</p>