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Could Animals Be The Solution To America's Organ Problem? : 1A This year, scientists at the University of Alabama performed the transplant of genetically-modified pig kidneys into a brain-dead human being. And this month, surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center transplanted a heart from a genetically-modified pig into a living human patient.

The need for organs in the U.S. is dire – more than 100,000 patients are on the national transplant list, and 17 of them die each day waiting for organs.

How can the use of xenotransplantation address this need?

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Could Animals Be The Solution To America's Organ Problem?

Could Animals Be The Solution To America's Organ Problem?

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A donor is wheeled to an operating room for a kidney transplant at Johns Hopkins Hospital. BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

A donor is wheeled to an operating room for a kidney transplant at Johns Hopkins Hospital.

BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images

Children's author Marjorie Blackman wrote "Pig Heart Boy" in 1997 after reading an article about xenotransplantation, the act of transplanting an animal organ or product into a human to cure disease. The story follows a a 13-year-old boy with a bad heart who accepts a transplant of a pig's heart into his body in order to live.

A lot has changed in the world of species to species organ donation since "Pig Heart Boy" was published. Earlier this year, scientists at the University of Alabama performed the transplant of genetically-modified pig kidneys into a brain-dead human being. And this month, surgeons at the University of Maryland Medical Center transplanted a heart from a genetically-modified pig into a living human patient.

The need for organs in the U.S. is dire – more than 100,000 patients are on the national transplant list, and 17 of them die each day waiting for organs. How can the use of xenotransplantation address this need?

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