Man from US who received a heart transplant from a pig passes away

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David Bennett from the US received a heart transplant from a pig on January 7th this year at the University of Maryland Medical Center. He was the first person to receive a pig’s heart in a groundbreaking experiment. He was slowly recovering and the hospital was posting regular updates about his recovery. However, suddenly his condition began to deteriorate and he passed away after 2 months.

In this photo provided by the University of Maryland School of Medicine, members of the surgical team show the pig heart for transplant into patient David Bennett in Baltimore on Friday, Jan. 7, 2022. On Monday, Jan. 10, 2022 the hospital said that he’s doing well three days after the highly experimental surgery. (Mark Teske/University of Maryland School of Medicine via AP)

Prior attempts at such transplants failed as the patients bodies rejected the animal organ. For David, the surgeons used a heart from a gened edited pig. Scientists modified the animal to remove pig genes that trigger hyper-fast rejection and added human genes to help the body accept the organ.


Doctor Bartley Griffith who performed the surgery is devastated by the loss of David. He said that 57 year old David was a brave and noble patient who fought till the very end.

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