Dr. Joseph Murray dies at 93; Nobel winner performed first kidney transplant
Wednesday, November 28, 2012 - 01:30
in Health & Medicine
In 1954, Murray successfully transplanted a healthy kidney from a man and implanted it in his identical twin. He was awarded the 1990 Nobel in Physiology or Medicine. Since ancient times, surgeons have dreamed of transplanting healthy organs into patients disabled by disease and injury, but the human body's powerful immune system stymied all such attempts, leading many observers to conclude that the procedure was impossible.