In the late 1950s, transplant models were developed in dogs for all of the intra-abdominal organs (Fig. 1). The most fruitful of these efforts involved the liver (Table 1) (Starzl TE (1969a) In: Starzl TE (ed) Experience in hepatic transplantation. WB Saunders, Philadelphia). In addition to its direct clinical application, the research in liver transplantation yielded new information about the metabolic interrelations of the intraabdominal viscera in disease and health; a more profound understanding of the mechanisms of organ alloengraftment; and the addition of new nontransplant procedures to the treatment armamentarium against gastrointestinal diseases.