In A World-First Transplant, A Man Receives A Genetically Engineered Pig Heart.

A guy from the United States has become the world's first person to receive a heart transplant from a genetically engineered pig.

Doctors say David Bennett is doing well three days after the seven-hour experimental treatment in Baltimore.

Mr Bennett's life was thought to be on the verge of being saved by the transplant, albeit it is unclear how long he will live.

Mr Bennet, 57, revealed a day before the surgery, "It was either die or do this transplant."

"I know it's a long shot, but it's my final resort."

The US medical regulator granted a special permit to doctors at the University of Maryland Medical Center to carry out the treatment on the grounds that Mr Bennett would have died otherwise.

The transplant is the conclusion of years of research for the medical team who performed it, and it has the potential to impact lives all across the world.

According to a press statement from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, surgeon Bartley P. Griffith stated the surgery would bring the world "one step closer to solving the organ scarcity dilemma." According to OrganDonor.gov, 17 individuals die every day in the United States while waiting for an organ transplant, with more than 100,000 people on the waiting list.

Animal organs for so-called xenotransplantation have long been regarded as a way to meet demand, and pig heart valves are now widely used.