Baby Fae body began generating isohaemagglutinins, but a suitable donor could not be found in time. Prior to the procedure, no infant heart transplant—even with human hearts—had been successfully performed due to a lack of infant human hearts. To address this issue, Bailey had become a pioneer in the research of cross-species heart transplants, which had included "more than 150 transplants in sheep, goats, and baboons". Multiple surgeons had previously experimented with baboon heart implants, leading some to speculate even that baboons could be farmed in the future for such purposes. When asked why he had picked a baboon over a primate
Yellow baboon Yellow baboon The yellow baboon ("Papio cynocephalus") is a baboon in the family of Old World monkeys. The species epithet literally means "dog-head" in Greek, due to the shape of the muzzle and head. They have slim bodies with long arms and legs, and yellowish-brown hair. They resemble the Chacma baboon, but are smaller with a less elongated muzzle. Their hairless faces are black, framed with white sideburns. Males can grow to about 84 cm, females to about 60 cm. They have long tails which grow to be nearly as long as their bodies. Their life spans are roughly 20–30