Surgeons save terminal patient's life with a genetically modified pig's heart

This world-first operation proves that an animal heart can function just like a human heart, without the body rejecting it

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A US man has become the first person in the world to receive a heart transplant from a genetically modified pig.

Surgeons say the experimental procedure was the only available option for the patient David Bennett, a 57-yearold from Maryland in the US, who was living with terminal heart disease.

Bennett is currently being carefully monitored while specialists at the University of Maryland Medical Center, where the procedure was carried out, determine whether the transplant can keep him alive in the long term.

It was either die or do this transplant. I want to live. I know It's a shot in the dark, but It's my last choice, said Bennett. I look forward to getting out of bed after I recover.