On March 9, local time, the University of Maryland School of Medicine in the United States announced that David Bennett, a 57-year-old heart disease patient who successfully transplanted a pig's heart in the world, died in medical school on March 8.
For a long time, pigs were considered a potential source of transplantation because its organs are very similar to those of humans. However, due to genetic differences leading to rejection and the risk of viral infection, previous efforts to transplant pig organs in humans have all failed. After years of research, the team at the University of Maryland School of Medicine successfully transplanted a pig's heart to a baboon, who survived for more than 9 months.
David Bennett, a 57-year-old Maryland man, suffered from a serious heart condition and was unable to take traditional treatment. As a last resort, he traveled to the University of Maryland School of Medicine in October 2021 and, after fully understanding the risks of surgery, agreed to be the subject of a pig heart transplant. On December 31, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urgently approved the procedure. On January 7, 2022, the surgical team at the University of Maryland School of Medicine transplanted a gene-edited pig heart into Bennett's body. In the weeks after the surgery, Bennett was in good shape and did not experience any rejection.
In a March 9 briefing, the University of Maryland School of Medicine said Bennett's condition began to deteriorate a few days ago and that he received palliative care after learning he was unable to recover. In the last hours of his life, Bennett made contact with his family and eventually passed away.
After the successful surgery in January, Muhammad Mohammed Mausiddin, director of the transplant programme, said: "This is a landmark surgery, if it works, we will have ready-to-use organs and I hope it will work." Although Bennett's life lasted only 2 months, his family thanked the doctor. Bennett's son said he hoped it was a beginning, not an end.
(Editor: Liu Qingyang)