What are the pros and cons of xenotransplantation?

Xenotransplantation. Pros, Cons and other issues...?

• It's an easy 10 Points if you add the source! (BTW I am not biased in this and giving Aidan Acquah free 10 Points) :P

• Answer:

  There you go karan varindani of g.i.s Source 1: Xenotransplantation Xenografts have been a controversial procedure since they were first attempted. Many, including animal rights groups, strongly oppose killing animals in order to harvest their organs for human use. Legitimate medical concerns exist about possible disease transfer between animals and humans, such as the porcine endogenous retrovirus found in pig tissues. Religious beliefs, such as the Jewish and Muslim prohibition against eating pork, may also present concerns for some. Immune rejection remains the biggest challenge for xenotransplantation. The problem exists even for human to human transplants (known as allotransplantation), but is more serious for transplants between different species. Nearly all mammalian cells have markers which enable the immune system to recognize them as being foreign. The more different the genetic code between the donor organ and recipient, the greater the difference between a "self" marker and a "foreign" marker. Some companies are currently developing transgenic animals, such as pigs, that produce human markers to try and lessen the chance of rejection. Human xenotransplantation offers a potential treatment for end-stage organ failure, a significant health problem in parts of the industrialized world. Because there is a worldwide shortage of organs for clinical implantation, about 60% of patients awaiting replacement organs die on the waiting list. In many cases there is so little chance of a person actually receiving a transplant; doctors do not even add the person to the list, causing an underrepresentation of the shortage [citation needed]. Recent advances in understanding the mechanisms of transplant organ rejection have brought science to a stage where it is reasonable to consider that organs from other species, probably pigs, may soon be engineered to minimize the risk of serious rejection and used as an alternative to human tissues, possibly ending organ shortages. Other procedures, some of which are being investigated in early clinical trials, aim to use cells or tissues from other species to treat life-threatening and debilitating illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, liver failure and Parkinson's disease. If vitrification can be perfected it could allow for long-term storage of xenogenic cells, tissues and organs so they would be more readily available for transplant. There are only a few published successful xenotransplant procedures. Some patients who were in need of liver transplants were able to use pig livers that were on a trolley by their bedside successfully until a proper donor liver was available[1]. Some recipients of pig neural cells with paralysis due to stroke (CVA) and Parkinson's disease have experienced dramatic improvements[citation needed]. Source 2: Why Should Xenotransplantation be Banned (Cons) • Xenotransplantation has deeper implications that extend beyond the individual realm into a social dimension that makes ethical acceptability even more difficult to examine. We have arrived at a point in medicine in which a great majority of our antibiotics are becoming less and less effective in combating diseases because of the natural selection of mutant resistant strains of pathogens such as bacteria (Kondrashov, 1998,BIOES278 notes) . In fact, one of the liveliest oppositions to xenotransplantation is the relaxation of the barrier between human and animal diseases which will worsen our chances of containing the gigantic problem described above. The scientific community is still recovering from the recent elucidation of the "mad cow disease" which turned out to have mutated into a form capable of infecting human beings through consumption. • It could be wasted effort. Since we're talking about organs from other species, immune systems could attack the organs. Although, the patient could be given immuno-suppressants drugs. • There are legal issues such as the law against animal lab testing and animal sacrifice in some countries. • There could be problems in terms of ethnicity, such as animal rights, which is also immorality. Source 3: Advantages of Xenotransplantation (Pros) • New avenues to explore for organ donors • Steady supply • Bypass waits • This would take care of some problems. I know that in certain countries, people are unfortunately murdered or manipulated so that the cruel people can take their organs and put them up on the market for money. • Transplantation would be more precise and suitable as it is the patient’s genes being used for the xenotransplant organ production. yes this is aidan acquah