animal to human

Lisa Pisano received the kidney and an implanted device to pump her failing heart in April. Her heart medications damaged the pig kidney, forcing doctors to remove it and return her to dialysis.

Officials say the illness was likely contracted it from a pet cat. Plague isn’t common, but it also isn’t unheard of in the western US, where a handful of cases occur every year.

Researchers have externally attached a pig liver to a brain-dead human and watched it successfully filter blood. The experiment is a step toward one day trying the technique in patients with liver failure.

Lawrence Faucette was dying from heart failure and ineligible for a traditional heart transplant when he received the genetically modified pig heart in September.

Doctors said the 58-year-old patient wasn’t eligible for a traditional heart transplant. While the next few weeks will be critical, doctors were thrilled at his early response to the genetically modified pig organ.

The genetically modified kidney worked properly the first month before showing subtle signs that rejection was forming. But doctors say the kidney's function bounced back with simple medication changes.

CSI-type genetic analysis has been used to solve medical mysteries in humans. Now a central Florida team of researchers are using genetic analysis to find…