Beginning in 1954, with the first successful organ transplantation in humans, transplanted organs have given hundreds of thousands of people the chance for longer, more productive lives. In 2005 alone, slightly over 28,000 solid organs (kidney, liver, lung, heart, pancreas, and intestine) were transplanted in the United States, up from approximately 12,600 organ transplants in 1988. As organ transplantation has grown increasingly safe and effective, the demand for transplants has grown far faster than the supply of available organs.