Xenotransplantation — A Brief History of Clinical Experiences: 1900–1965

The idea of transplanting organs from animals to humans has intrigued man for as long as he has recorded his myths and his history. Daedelus, who grafted bird feathers to his arms, was perhaps the first to transplant across the species barrier successfully. He escaped from his island prison in Crete and flew to the mainland of Greece. A similar experiment by his son, Icarus, ended in acute graft rejection, attributed to a thermolabile adhesive. After flying too close to the sun he plunged into the water which is now called, in his honor, the Icaran Sea[l].