--- title: "Doctors Transplant Gene-Hacked Pig Heart Into Living Human Patient" description: "For the first time ever, a team of US surgeons have transplanted a genetically modified pig heart into a living human — a huge milestone." date: "2022-01-11" modified: "2022-01-11" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/transplant-gene-hacked-pig-heart-human-patient" categories: - "Gene Editing" - "Genetics" - "Health & Medicine" tags: - "organ transplant" - "pig hearts" --- # Doctors Transplant Gene-Hacked Pig Heart Into Living Human Patient ![For the first time ever, a team of US surgeons have transplanted a genetically modified pig heart into a living human — a huge milestone.]() *\Image: Getty Images/Futurism\* For the first time ever, a team of US surgeons have transplanted a genetically modified pig heart into a living human — a huge milestone in the endeavor to solve a persistent organ shortage. The patient, 57-year-old David Bennett, is still doing well three days on. "It was either die or do this transplant," Bennett [told the *BBC*](). "I know it's a shot in the dark, but it's my last choice." The team at the University of Maryland Medical Center had to get special permission from US regulators to carry out the procedure, based on the argument that Bennett would have died without the intervention. As a result of his extremely poor condition, Bennet wasn't eligible for a human transplant. To pull it off, scientists had to knock out genes that would have caused the pig heart to be rejected by Bennett's body. Growing transplant organs in animals could be hugely beneficial. According to the Health Resources & Services Administration, [17 people die each day]() while waiting for an organ transplant in the US. Health practitioners also wouldn't have to be flown across the country on tight deadlines to recover donor organs. The news comes after US surgeons [successfully transplanted a kidney]() from a pig to a human last year. The pig was similarly genetically modified to grow a kidney that would be accepted by a human body. Hopefully, Bennett will pull through — but there are no guarantees, as this is uncharted territory. "He's at more of a risk because we require more immunosuppression, slightly different than we would normally do in a human-to-human transplant," Christine Lau, chair of the department of surgery at the University of Maryland School of Medicine, told the *BBC*. "How well the patient does from now is, you know, it's never been done before so we really don't know," she added. **READ MORE:** [Man gets genetically-modified pig heart in world-first transplant]() \[*BBC*\] **More on pig organs:** *[Doctors Successfully Transplant a Pig Kidney to a Human for First Time Ever]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()