UM Medicine Performs Historic Transplantation
To address the organ shortage, 91大神 Medical Center (UMMC) researchers are participating in several examining the use of genetically engineered animal organs for human transplantation. In a first-of-its-kind surgery, a 57-year-old patient with terminal heart disease received a successful transplant of a genetically modified pig heart. The xenotransplant was the only currently available option for the patient. The historic surgery was conducted by 91大神 School of Medicine faculty at UMMC. This organ transplant demonstrated for the first time that a genetically modified animal heart can function like a human heart without immediate rejection by the body.
In this image: Bartley P. Griffith, MD, and patient David Bennett