Surgeons in China have conducted a successful pig-to-human lung transplant which they say demonstrated the feasibility of the procedure – even if substantial further tests are still required.

According to scientists at the National Clinical Research Center for Respiratory Disease in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, the pig lung, which was transplanted into a brain-dead human recipient, "maintained viability and functionality" for 216 hours (nine days) without becoming infected or being rejected by its host.