Bartley Griffith

Of the 3,347 Americans waiting for a donor heart in 2022, only 810 received one — which explains why so many eyes were on Griffith’s groundbreaking operation last January to give end-stage heart failure patient David Bennett a whole heart from a genetically engineered pig. Thanks to novel immunosuppressants and gene-editing of the donor animal by the biotech Revivicor, which was acquired by United Therapeutics in 2011, the transplant was initially successful, with no signs of rejection. Although Bennett died two months after the surgery, the experiment has been hailed as an important step in the field of transplantation. If the FDA authorizes Griffith’s application for future trials, his work could make further progress in addressing the shortage of donor organs.