Advances in transplant technology could allow for the use of animal organs in humans some day, researchers say. In a new study, US scientists transplanted hearts from genetically engineered pigs into baboons whose immune systems had been suppressed, to prevent them from rejecting the transplants.
The transplanted hearts survived in their recipients for more than 500 days, researchers said. Transplanting organs from animals, known as xenotransplantation, could replace human organs completely, or provide a stopgap until a human organ becomes available.