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Second Pig Heart Transplant Recipient Dies Six Weeks After Procedure

Published

2 years ago

November 1, 2023

A 58-year-old man with terminal heart disease who received the world’s second genetically-modified pig heart transplant has died nearly six weeks after the procedure, the medical center that carried out the surgery said.

Lawrence Faucette received the organ on September 20 and passed away on October 30, the University of Maryland Medical Center said in a statement on Tuesday.

He had been deemed ineligible for a human heart transplant because of his advanced medical conditions, including peripheral vascular disease. Though the transplant initially worked well, it began showing signs of rejection in recent days.

“We mourn the loss of Mr. Faucette, a remarkable patient, scientist, Navy veteran, and family man who just wanted a little more time to spend with his loving wife, sons, and family,” said surgeon Bartley P. Griffith, who performed the transplant.

The latest experimental procedure was part of a growing field of research aimed at advancing cross-species transplants, or xenotransplants, involving animal organs genetically modified to become less likely to trigger rejection in humans.

It is hoped that eventually they will help address the human donor gap, with more than 100,000 people in America alone currently awaiting an organ.

David Bennett Sr was the first person to receive a gene-edited pig heart transplant in January 2022, carried out by the same medical team.

He passed away after two months with the medical center ascribing his death to “a multitude of factors including his poor state of health” prior to the operation, though it was also later found that the organ was infected with a virus.

Muhammad Mohiuddin, the cardiac xenotransplantation program director, praised Faucette’s contribution to science, adding: “We intend to conduct an extensive analysis to identify factors that can be prevented in future transplants.”

Over the past two years, doctors have transplanted kidneys from genetically modified pigs into brain-dead patients.

The NYU Langone Hospital Transplant Institute in New York announced in September that a pig kidney transplanted into a brain-dead patient had functioned for a record-breaking 61 days.

Early xenotransplantation research focused on harvesting organs from primates — for example, a baboon heart was transplanted into a newborn known as “Baby Fae” in 1984, but she survived only 20 days.

Current efforts focus on pigs, which are thought to be ideal donors for humans because of their organ size, their rapid growth and large litters, and the fact they are already raised as a food source.

AFP

Headline

US Appeal Court Rules Against Trump Birthright Citizenship Order

Published

1 day ago

July 24, 2025

Editor

A US appeals court on Wednesday ruled that President Donald Trump’s order restricting birthright citizenship was unconstitutional and backed the decision of a lower court to block the nationwide order.

The order has been mired in legal back-and-forth for months, and is currently halted by a federal court amid multiple legal proceedings.

The Supreme Court ruled last month that lone judges had likely exceeded their powers by issuing nationwide injunctions against a string of Trump’s policies, including his move to end birthright citizenship.

Several district judges had blocked Trump’s attempt to end the longstanding rule, guaranteed in the US Constitution, that anyone born on US soil is automatically an American citizen.

But the Ninth District Court of Appeals ruled that an injunction issued by a district judge based in Seattle was not a case of judicial overreach.

“We conclude that the district court did not abuse its discretion in issuing a universal injunction in order to give the States complete relief,” Judge Ronald Gould wrote.

According to Gould’s ruling, limiting an injunction to the state level would be as ineffective as not blocking the order at all, because of complications that could arise if people move between states with different citizenship rules.

The appeals court also concluded that Trump’s birthright order went against the wording of the US Constitution.

“The district court correctly concluded that the Executive Order’s proposed interpretation, denying citizenship to many persons born in the United States, is unconstitutional. We fully agree,” Gould wrote.

Trump’s executive order decrees that children born to parents in the United States illegally or on temporary visas would not automatically become citizens — a radical reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment to the US Constitution.

The current Supreme Court, with a 6-3 conservative majority, avoided ruling last month on the constitutionality of Trump’s executive order and only addressed the issue of nationwide injunctions, which was nevertheless claimed by Trump as a “giant win.”

The Supreme Court also left open the possibility that executive orders could be blocked via broad class-action lawsuits against the government.

A federal judge earlier this month granted class-action status to any child who would potentially be denied citizenship under Trump’s order, and issued a preliminary halt to it as legal proceedings carry on.

AFP

Headline

49 Feared Dead As Passenger Plane Crashes In Russia

Published

1 day ago

July 24, 2025

Editor

A passenger plane carrying 49 people crashed in Russia’s far eastern region of Amur on Thursday, authorities said.

The aircraft, a twin-engine Antonov-24 operated by Angara Airlines, was headed to the town of Tynda from the city of Blagoveshchensk when it disappeared from radar, regional governor Vassily Orlov said on Telegram.

A rescue helicopter later spotted the burning fuselage of the plane on a mountainside about 16 kilometres (10 miles) from Tynda.

The helicopter saw no evidence of survivors from above, local rescuers said.

The Amur region’s civil defence agency said it was dispatching rescuers to the scene.

“At the moment, 25 people and five units of equipment have been dispatched, and four aircraft with crews are on standby,” it said.

AFP

Headline

19 Dead As Bangladesh Fighter Jet Crashes Into School

Published

4 days ago

July 21, 2025

Editor

A Bangladeshi training fighter jet crashed into a school in the capital Dhaka on Monday, killing at least 19 people and injuring dozens more in the country’s deadliest aviation accident in decades.

An AFP photographer at the scene saw fire and rescue officials taking away the injured students on stretchers, while military personnel helped clear the wreckage.

A military statement said 19 people were killed, including the pilot, and 20 others were critically wounded.

At least 51 people, mostly students, were undergoing treatment at Dhaka’s National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute, its director Mohammad Nasir Uddin told AFP.

The Chinese-made F-7 BJI aircraft crashed moments after students were let out of class at 1:00 pm (0700 GMT) at the Milestone School and College.

A witness said he heard a huge blast that felt like an earthquake.

“We have two playgrounds, one for the senior students and one for the juniors,” said Shafiur Rahman Shafi, 18, who is enrolled at the school.

“We were on the playground for the seniors. There were two fighter planes… Suddenly one of the two planes crashed here (in the junior playground),” he told AFP.

“It created a boom, and it felt like a quake. Then it caught fire, and the army reached the spot later.”

The interim government of Muhammad Yunus announced a day of national mourning on Tuesday.

Grieving parents and relatives of the victims thronged the National Burn and Plastic Surgery Institute.

Tofazzal Hossain, 30, broke down in tears on learning that his young cousin had been killed.

“We frantically searched for my cousin in different hospitals,” Hossain told AFP.

“He was an eighth grader at the school. Finally, we found his body.”

Yunus expressed “deep grief and sorrow” over the incident in a post on X.

“The loss suffered by the Air Force, the students, parents, teachers, and staff of Milestone School and College, as well as others affected by this accident, is irreparable,” he said.

“This is a moment of profound pain for the nation.”

The crash was the worst aviation accident in the country in several decades.

The deadliest ever disaster happened in 1984 when a plane flying from Chattogram to Dhaka crashed, killing all 49 on board.

Last month, a commercial aircraft crashed in neighbouring India, killing 260 people.