“We are glad that the pig was born safely, but this is just the beginning. We look forward to advancing the discussion about clinical application [ксенотрансплантации ] in Japan. We will continue our research, focusing primarily on safety, while at the same time continuing to discuss issues related to ethics,” NHK quoted Hiroshi Nagashima, a professor at Meiji University and director of PorMedTec, as saying. Already in 2024, Japanese experts expect to begin transplanting organs from a genetically modified pig into the body of a monkey – an intermediate step between transplantation into the human body.