In December last year, Dr Maria Siemionow, who is a plastic surgeon by profession, successfully transplanted 80% of a human face. This makes it the first ever near-full human face transplant.

After years of study on cadavers and mice ( a full facial transplant for a mouse takes about 6 hours), Dr Siemionow was able to build a new face (including 83 square inches of skin with the muscles, bone, upper lip and nose) for a young lady who ‘did not have a midface’ due to a traumatic injury. The identity of the patient remains a secret.

It was reported that two months on, this patient had been discharged from hospital and is able to eat hamburgers and smell and taste it. She is even able to drink from a cup.

Transplants for the heart, liver and lungs are relatively easy to perform. But transplants for organs with many types of cells, like skin, muscle and bone are far more challenging.

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