There were more than 48,000 organ transplants in the United States last year. They’re commonplace now, but the practice was considered experimental only a half-century ago.

Custom organs “Multiple shots on goal” is how geneticist Dr. David Ayares describes United Therapeutics’ approach to the future of organ transplantation.

Pig organs had been transplanted into non-human primates, but the real test came in September 2021, when a genetically engineered pig kidney was transplanted to a brain-dead patient at NYU Langone.