The research team of the University Hospital of Munich in Germany recently said that the research of human heart transplantation in pigs is in the "final sprint stage" and it is estimated that it can be put into use in two years.

It is understood that the research team tested several breeds of pigs, and finally selected pigs from New Zealand and genetically modified them to keep their weight at 70 to 90 kg so that their heart would not be too large for the human body.

Bruno Reicht, a famous cardiac surgeon who led the team, introduced to the German media that the heart of genetically modified pigs should be tested on baboons first, and human transplantation research can only be carried out after reaching relevant standards. In 2018, Reicht's research team published a report in the British journal Nature that they transplanted the heart of genetically modified pigs into baboons. The longest survival time of baboons after transplantation was six and a half months.

In January 2022, medical experts from the University of Maryland carried out the world's first operation to transplant the heart of a genetically modified pig into a human body. The patient who underwent the operation was a 57-year-old male heart patient who survived for about two months after the operation.

Xenotransplantation is believed to alleviate the problem of insufficient human organ donation. According to the data of the German Organ Transplantation Foundation, 869 people donated organs in Germany in 2022, down 6.9% from 2021; The number of donated organs was 2662, down 8.4% from 2021; Among the donated organs, there are 312 hearts. According to the data of the European Transplantation Organization, by the end of 2022, there were more than 8500 people waiting for organ donation in Germany, including nearly 700 people waiting for heart donation.