Last year:
Earlier this week, surgeons at New York University’s Langone Transplant Institute successfully performed a pig kidney transplant. This in itself would be unremarkable. What does mark the achievement as unprecedented is the identity of the donor – a genetically modified pig.
Some days post-surgery, the recipient, a brain-dead patient whose family consented to the experimental procedure, has not rejected the kidney and tests show that it is functioning normally. This incredible feat is significant both as a demonstration of scientific control over biological systems and as a beacon of hope to others in line for a transplant.
I couldn’t help laughing out loud when I misread “beacon of hope” as “bacon of hope”.