Kate Womersley

The history of transplants had many false starts

Paul Craddock describes how it took countless gruesome experiments over the centuries before a human kidney was successfully transplanted in 1954

Saints Cosmas and Damian graft the leg of an Ethiopian man on to the stump of the deacon Justinian, in a painting by Jaume Huguet (15th century). [Bridgeman Images]
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  • Spare Parts: A Surprising History of Transplants

    Paul Craddock

    Penguin, pp. 320, £18

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