A patient received two kidneys and a whole liver from a pig, the first example of multi-organ xenotransplantation.

The patient was brain-dead, and the procedure, which was performed in China, was a trial, but the organs — from a pig genetically modified to improve compatibility with human immune systems — were not immediately rejected.

Kidneys and livers often need to be transplanted together as liver failure often damages kidneys. Small numbers of people have received single or partial pig organs.

There is a huge shortage of organs available for transplantation — in the US, over 100,000 people are awaiting transplants, and over 4,700 die waiting every year — and researchers hope that pig organs can improve supply and save lives.