In a landmark moment for the medical community, advancements in organ donation were made with the completion of the first pig-to-human heart transplant on January 7, 2022 (via USA Today). Maryland resident Dave Bennett underwent a nine-hour experimental surgical procedure to receive a genetically modified heart from a 240-pound pig. Faced with a life-threatening heart condition, the patient emerged from surgery that his loved ones describe as "nothing short of a miracle." Post-operation, Bennett is now receiving blood flow assistance through the use of an ECMO machine for the time being (via USA Today).

2022年1月7日，首例猪到人的心脏移植完成，这对医学界来说是一个里程碑式的时刻。马里兰州居民戴夫·班尼特接受了9个小时的实验性外科手术，从一头240磅重的猪身上移植了一颗转基因心脏。面对危及生命的心脏状况，这位病人从手术中走出来，他的亲人形容这“简直是个奇迹”。术后，班尼特目前正在接受体外膜肺氧合(ECMO)机器的血液流动辅助。

Bennett is continuing to be monitored for potential infection and organ rejection, but has made it successfully past the critical initial two-day period. Bennett's surgeon, Dr. Bartley Griffith, the director of heart transplant program at the University of Maryland Medical Center, tells The New York Times that their approach is to take things one step at a time, stating, "It creates the pulse, it creates the pressure, it is his heart. It's working and it looks normal. We are thrilled, but we don't know what tomorrow will bring us. This has never been done before."

班尼特仍在接受潜在感染和器官排斥反应的监测，但他已经成功度过了关键的最初两天。班尼特的外科医生、马里兰大学医学中心心脏移植项目主任巴特利·格里菲斯医生告诉《纽约时报》，他们的方法是一步一步来，“它产生了脉搏，产生了压力，这是他的心脏。它在工作，看起来很正常。我们很激动，但我们不知道明天会给我们带来什么。这是以前从未做过的。”

The unique transplant benefits of pig organs

猪器官移植的独特优势

With roughly 550,000 new cases of heart failure diagnosed annually (via Emory Health), an estimated 6.5 million people in the U.S. are living with heart failure (via NYU Langone Health). The American Heart Association defines heart failure as a condition in which the heart has become weakened in its ability to adequately pump blood to meet the body's needs. With heart donations in high demand, Donate Life America reports that over 3,000 Americans are on the national transplant waiting list in need of a new heart.

每年大约有55万新诊断出的心力衰竭病例(通过埃默里健康)，估计美国有650万人患有心力衰竭。美国心脏协会将心力衰竭定义为心脏供血能力减弱以满足身体需要的一种情况。由于心脏捐献需求旺盛，美国生命捐赠组织报告称，超过3000名美国人在全国移植等待名单上，需要新的心脏。

While animal organ donation is not new, pig organs have the potential to provide unique benefits to human transplant patients not offered by other animals that have been used for organ donation in the past. For example, unlike primates, pigs reach maturity much faster, within six months' time (via The New York Times). Additionally, with the advancements of gene-editing technology and cloning, pig organs have been modified in ways that reduce the chances for rejection by the human body.

虽然动物器官捐赠并不新鲜，但猪器官有可能为人类移植患者提供独特的好处，这是过去用于器官捐赠的其他动物所没有的。例如，与灵长类动物不同，猪在六个月内更快地成熟。此外，随着基因编辑技术和克隆技术的进步，猪的器官已经被改造，以减少被人体排斥的机会。

Heart transplant patient and transplant surgeon at NYU Langone Robert Montgomery has high hopes for the future of transplant patients and their loved ones following the news of Bennett's surgery, telling USA Today, "This is a truly remarkable breakthrough. I am thrilled by this news and the hope it gives to my family and other patients who will eventually be saved by this breakthrough."

纽约大学朗格尼分校的心脏移植患者和移植外科医生罗伯特·蒙哥马利(Robert Montgomery)在得知班尼特手术的消息后，对移植患者及其亲人的未来寄予厚望，“这是一个真正了不起的突破。我为这一消息感到激动，也为我的家人和其他患者带来希望，他们最终将通过这一突破而得救。”