Baboons survive 6 months after getting a pig heart transplant
New transplant procedures bring scientists a step closer to using pig donors for human organs
For roughly six months, fully functioning pig hearts beat inside the chests of two Anubis baboons. Genetic modifications to the pig hearts along with a new transplant technique are credited with the longest-yet survival after such a transplant, researchers report December 5 in Nature. Previously, the longest a baboon lived after such a procedure was 57 days.
Another two baboons in the study lived at least three months with pig hearts and were in good health during that time, says Bruno Reichart, a cardiac surgeon at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Munich. The baboons hopped and climbed around their enclosures. Some enjoyed eating mangoes and eggs, and watching TV programs like “Tom and Jerry” and “Alvin and the Chipmunks,” he says.