Transplant a first

South African doctors said on Saturday they had successfully performed the world’s first penis transplant, on a 21-year-old man whose organ was amputated three years ago after a botched circumcision. The nine-hour operation, which took place in December, was part of a pilot study by Tygerberg Hospital in Cape Town and the University of Stellenbosch to help the 250 or so young South African men who lose their penises each year after tribal coming-of-age circumcision rituals go wrong. Doctors said the patient, who was not named, had recovered full urinary and reproductive functions.