Who among the following had performed the world's first heart transplant?
- (a)Dr. Venugopal
- (b)William Harvey
- (c)Christian Bernard
- (d)William Betrick
Correct — C, Christiaan Barnard (spelt 'Christian Bernard' in the paper). The South African surgeon performed the world's first human-to-human heart transplant on 3 December 1967 at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, on patient Louis Washkansky. This landmark operation made Barnard internationally famous and opened the modern era of cardiac transplantation.
- (a)Dr. Venugopal — Dr. P. Venugopal led India's FIRST successful heart transplant (at AIIMS, New Delhi, in 1994) — a national first, decades after and not the world's first.
- (b)William Harvey — The 17th-century English physician who first described the circulation of blood (De Motu Cordis, 1628); he explained how the heart pumps, but performed no transplant.
- (d)William Betrick — Not a recognised figure in the history of heart transplantation — a distractor with no such pioneering surgery to his name.
A heart transplant replaces a diseased heart with a healthy donor heart. The procedure became possible only after advances in surgery, hypothermia and, crucially, immunosuppression to prevent rejection. Christiaan Barnard's 1967 operation was the proof-of-concept; early patients survived only briefly, but the technique matured through the 1970s-80s with better anti-rejection drugs.
The trap is to pick the Indian name (Venugopal) for an Indian exam, or William Harvey because he is 'the heart' scientist. Separate two distinct facts: Harvey explained blood circulation, Barnard did the first transplant, and Venugopal did India's first transplant.
- World's first human heart transplant: Dr. Christiaan Barnard, 3 December 1967
- Location: Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, South Africa; patient Louis Washkansky
- India's first heart transplant: Dr. P. Venugopal, AIIMS New Delhi, 1994
- William Harvey described the circulation of blood (1628) — not a transplant
- Choosing Dr. Venugopal (India's first) for the 'world's first'
- Confusing William Harvey (circulation of blood) with the first transplant surgeon
Both UPPSC and UPSC ask 'who was the first to do X' in science history; anchor the pair Barnard = first heart transplant, Harvey = circulation of blood.
No directly related past PYQ was found.
- practice — not a real PYQ
The circulation of blood in the human body was first described by:
- (a)Christiaan Barnard
- (b)William Harvey
- (c)Edward Jenner
- (d)Louis Pasteur
Answer(b) William Harvey — in De Motu Cordis (1628).
- practice — not a real PYQ
India's first successful heart transplant was performed at which institution?
- (a)PGIMER, Chandigarh
- (b)CMC, Vellore
- (c)AIIMS, New Delhi
- (d)KEM Hospital, Mumbai
Answer(c) AIIMS, New Delhi (1994), led by Dr. P. Venugopal.