Of pigs and men

One man's commitment points the way to a brighter future for some patients who may otherwise lose hope, and it's all thanks to the animals he has so carefully nurtured in a little village in China. Liu Zhihua and Feng Zhiwei describe the breakthrough.

These pigs are very famous, and very precious. Their fur is sleek and silky and they nuzzle their feed while listening to music playing in the background. They are China's first donor pigs bred for inter-species transplantation research, and their fame has spread beyond China, throughout the international medical community.

They live in a village two hours' drive from Changsha in Hunan province. It's the first breeding center for donor pigs in Asia and only the second in the world.