Essay on Xenotransplantation - 3333 Words

Xenotransplantation Physicians today are faced with a growing list of patients awaiting transplants for organs that have failed, but there are not enough donors to meet these needs. Countries all over the world have a â€Å"human organ shortage† and the waiting lists for organ transplants only seem to grow longer (Melo 427). In the United States 62,000 patients needed a kidney, liver, or pancreatic transplant in the year 2001. Xenotransplantation, which refers to the transplantation of organs, cells, or tissues from animal species into human beings, has been heralded as a promising technology that will help us save more lives and lessen the dire shortage of transplantable organs. Organs from pigs, goats, monkeys, chimpanzees, and†¦show more content†¦The patient died nine days later. Another experiment conducted in 1984 attempted to use a baboon’s heart to save a newborn baby; the baby only lived for twenty days. The longest time a patient has lived with an animal organ is nine months, where the recipient received a chimpanzee kidney. The early failures of xenotransplantation, however, led many to believe that animal organs are too different from human organs. The recipient’s immune system recognizes the foreign organ and rejects it in spite of immunosuppressive drugs. Powerful immunosuppressive drugs are given to any patient receiving an organ, human or animal, in order to suppress the body’s reaction to the foreign organ. Without the immunosuppressive drugs, the body will reject the organ within a few hours after surgery (Natural Life 23). With the more recent advances in genetic engineering, that allow us to modify the genetic makeup of animals, the medical community is taking another look at xenotransplantation. Animals are genetically engineered to express human genes and scientists hope that this will make the animal organs more humanlike and reduce the body’s response of rejecting them (Natural Life 23). In 1995, the FDA permitted the Duke University Medical Center to test genetically altered pig livers in patients with end-stage liver disease. The pig livers were genetically manipulated to contain three human genes that would produce human proteins to counter the body’s rejection responseShow MoreRelatedEssay on Xenotransplantation758 Words   |  4 PagesXenotransplantation The progress thats being made in the field of Xenotransplantation; the transplantation of an animal organ into a human host, is vital to the betterment of science and medicine and should not be hindered by the ignorant trepidation of a few individuals. The number of patients requiring organ transplants has exceeded the number of available human donors. For this reason science is looking to xenotransplantation as a solution which may yield access to a plethora of availableRead More The Benefits of Xenotransplantation Essay1535 Words   |  7 PagesThe Benefits of Xenotransplantation New technology has opened many doors of opportunity for advancements in medical science. Not even in our wildest dreams would we have imagined a world where animal organs could be safely transplanted into humans. A few years ago, this process called xenotransplantation, was completed for the very first time. The only dilemma critics had with the process involved the chances of infection and organ rejection from the patient. Through experimentation and advancesRead MoreEssay on Xenotransplantation2040 Words   |  9 PagesXenotransplantation Introduction According to Websters Dictionary, a doctor is one skilled or specializing in healing arts. However, what is entailed in these healing arts has expanded time and time again over the course of history. 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In transplants between discordant species, such as pig to human, the recipient has natural antibodies against the donorRead MoreThe Pros and Cons of Xenotransplantation: Organ Donations1073 Words   |  5 PagesXenotransplantation The topic I would like to talk about today is called xenotransplantation. If you haven’t ever heard about xenotransplantation that’s okay, a lot of people haven’t. As you know many of the people who need organ donations need them because of new and old health issues. The worldwide demand for organs far surpasses the supply. A study done by the United Network for Organ Sharing in 2004 found that over one hundred thousand patients could have benefited from an organ transplantRead MoreThe Ethical Issue Of Xenotransplantation And The Catholic Churches Essay1765 Words   |  8 PagesI will be discussing the ethical issue of Xenotransplantation and the Catholic Churches response to it. Xenotransplantation is a procedure involving the transplantation of live cells, organs and tissues from nonhumans into humans. It provides an alternative way to treat serious and fatal diseases such as Alzheimer s, diabetes and Parkinson s disease. It also poses as a solution for the ongoing problem of organ shortage. Generally, Xenotransplantation is a reoccurring ethical issue as this specificRead MoreEssay on Is Xenotransplantation an Ethical Solution or Disaster?1935 Words   |  8 Pages Is Xenotransplantation an ethical solution or disaster? nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;The audience for this paper is comprised of those readers looking to gain knowledge on the issue of xenotransplantation. This group of people is unaware of the dynamics of the ethical arguments surrounding this current issue. This audience does not have a specific age or belief, reflecting the varied positions of the argument. Due to this hunger for factual information