Animals Research at UBC

Heart-to-heart health

Heart-to-heart health

Images courtesy Understanding Animal Research /Wellcome Images.
Disclaimer: Images do not depict UBC research animals.

The first human-to-human heart transplant, performed in 1967, was preceded by decades of preparatory animal research.

Animal studies between 1930 and 1950 explored methods to combat organ rejection. Dr. Christian Barnard, who performed the first transplant, had already performed nearly 50 animal heart transplants to ensure success with human patients.

Other organ transplant research using animals includes heart-lung transplants, first developed in monkeys. The first human cornea transplant was possible because of research using rabbits. Scientists are now investigating using donor organs from genetically modified pigs for human transplants.

There were 2,155 organ transplants in Canada in 2009, according to the Canadian Organ Replacement Register.

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Animal Research
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