Some anubis baboons were the recipients of a new
heart, courtesy of an international team of researchers. With
the new hearts, which came from pigs, the baboons were able to
live normal and healthy lives for months.
According to a study
published last month in the journal Nature, the researchers
managed to keep two of the baboons alive for 90 days before they
euthanized them in accordance with the terms of the study. The
other two baboons survived for 180 days before the researchers
put them down.
Prior to this study, the longest a baboon with a life-supporting
pig heart survived was 57 days, and 60 percent of recipients
died within just two days.