The man credited with being the first to show that non-human organs can function for a significant period of time died on June 23^rd this year in the U.S.A. He was heart transplant surgeon Keith Reemtsma MD (74). Dr. Reemtsma, was chairman of the department of surgery at Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center in New York where he helped to set up the heart transplant programme. His foray into the field of xenotransplant began when he transplanted Chimpanzee kidneys into 6 people in 1963 and 1964. His most significant contribution to this field was the transplantation of a chimpanzee kidney into a 23 year old woman. She survived for 9 months before succumbing to an infection.