A team at NYU Langone successfully transplanted two genetically engineered pig hearts into two recently deceased humans.

Doctors view this as very promising because there are at least 100,000 patients in the U.S. with end stage heart failure.

“There is just a limit to how many organs you can get from donation, from human donation. So, this is a potential pathway to save thousands and thousands of lives,” says Dr. Alex Reyentovich, a member of the 30-person team who worked on the project.