The world’s first human-to-human heart transplant is dated 3 December 1967, operated by the surgeon Christiaan Barnard in Cape Town, South Africa, on patient Louis Washkansky.

More than half of all deaths in Europe are caused by cardiovascular disease, and 80% of all these are due to atherosclerosis.

Unlocking the mystery of that 5% of sudden cardiac deaths which are not caused by any apparent anatomic abnormality points to a group of inherited gene mutations in the heart’s ion channels.