Thursday, December 23, will be the 50th anniversary of the first successful organ transplant.

Over the last five decades, surgeons have learned how to transplant virtually every vital organ in the human body. They have also branched out to transplant an array of nonvital body parts including, most recently, the hand. Advances in surgery, medicine, anesthesia and intensive care have extended patients’ longevity and quality of life: the world’s longest transplant survivor has lived almost 42 years since his kidney transplant in 1963.