Volunteer for NIAID-funded clinical studies related to
transplantation on ClinicalTrials.gov. Humans have long realized
the possibilities unleashed by transplantation of organs and
tissue. As early as the 6th Century BC, the Indian surgeon
Sushruta described how to reconstruct disfiguring facial wounds
by transplanting skin and cartilage from one place on the body
to another. Below is a list of significant events in the
development of transplantation as a viable clinical procedure
that occurred over the past century. Read about Noble Prize
winners who have contributed to our knowledge of organ
transplantation. Karl Landsteiner discovers human blood groups.
Alexis Carrel develops techniques for suturing blood vessels
together; later, he is the first to describe transplant
rejection. First successful human corneal transplant performed
by Eduard Zirm. Major steps in skin transplantation occurred
during World War I, e.g., the tubed pedicle graft. Peter Gorer
and George Snell, at The Jackson Laboratory, discover h