Essay Xenotransplants - Animal to Human Organ Transplants

The medical practice of organ transplantation has grown by leaps and bounds over the last 50 years. Each year the medical profession takes more risk with decisions regarding transplants, how to allocate for organs, and most recently conducting transplants on children with adult organs. “An organ transplantation is a surgical operation where a failing or damaged organ in the human body is removed and replaced with a new one” (Caplan, 2009). Not all organs can be transplanted. The term “organ transplant” typically refers to transplants of solid organs: heart, kidneys, liver, pancreas, and intestines. There are two ways of receiving an organ transplant: from a living human or an organ from a

Xenotransplantation is defined as “ The use of live nonhuman animal cells, tissues and organs in human patients.” (Fix, Megan. Fact Sheet on Xenotransplantation). There are pros and cons to Xenotransplantation. Xenoplantation aims to increase organ availability, it has the potential to open up new areas of research, and could end transplant list. The cons include high rejection rate, moral/ethical issues, and transfer of diseases from animals to humans. After learning about the pros and cons of Xenoplantation I believe that I am against it due to the ethical issues I have learned.

Much credit should belong to scientists for making important technological and medical discoveries in the world. In Bishop,'sEnemies of Promise," well known scientists point out views regarding their belief in science. Representative George E. Brown, Jr., who has been trained as a physicist admits that "his faith in science has been shaken." He feels that as our knowledge of science increases, so do the occurrence of social problems. Brown, Jr. Feels that the progression of science should lead to diminishing social problems rather than an increase.(238) The real question is, is science to blame, or are the humans creating science to blame? Critics such as Brown and Lamm "blame science for what are actually the failures of individuals to use the knowledge that science has provided." Frankenstein, The Modern Prometheus, is a good example of a myth about a scientist who took science to an extreme.

Throughout time Organ transplanting has been an important medical procedure that has been present, not only in the United States, but around the globe. It is the process of surgically removing an organ from on patient and then transplanting it into the other. This practice is usually used when a recipient’s own organ fails to function properly or has

     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, they do not wish to have someone else’s views imposed on them. Instead, they wish to define and establish a view of their own.      

Xenotransplantation is a controversial medical procedure that has been debated by medical ethicists for many years. Xenotransplantation or Xeno is defined as the short-term transplantation of animal tissues into a human. It has been argued that the procedure is unethical because of the use of animal organs. However, twenty two people die each day waiting for an organ transplant, so we must act soon to save the thousands of lives that are still waiting. Xenotransplantation is a highly debatable procedure and offers a unique solution to the ever growing organ transplant list, making it a viable and worthwhile procedure.

There are numerous problems dealing with organ transplantation. A major issue concerning organ transplantation is that organ donors are deficient and scarce. Donors have been known to scarce because not everyone takes good care of his or her body. There are not enough people to donate organs, yet the amount of people in need of organs is increasing by the hour. “Another conflict is organ transplants can still lead to other medical problems. This is usually because of the medicine you need to suppress your immune system” (Nazario Brunilda , “Common”). After an organ transplants, it is a must that you continuously take your medication; a sudden stop will most likely cause the immune system to reject the organ. “The medications can also raise your blood pressure and can cause osteoporosis due to loss of calcium” (Etienne, Flueridor Wendy).

Science is one of man’s most powerful tools in interpreting his status in the universe; however, with this great power comes great responsibility, and therefore, there must be reasonable expectations and restrictions, but does that mean that restrictions need to be placed to limit the pursuit of science? Or rather, does society need restrictions to limit how science is to be used? Literature and historical events both point to the single truth that society, not science, must be checked.

“As science is more and more subject to grave misuse as well as to use for human benefit

Proponents of creating human-pig chimeras for organ transplantation argue that once this breakthrough is perfected, medicine will no longer need to rely solely

The history of human organ transplant is an epic journey to understand how the human body works and ways to

S. candidates on a waiting list for transplants, but less than 30,000 will receive the vital transplants. In order to address this shortage. Scientists are looking into different avenues to provide more option than just being put on a waiting list and hoping that an organ becomes available. One is Xeno-Transplantation, which is the transplantation of organs and tissue from one species to another. Through research, the most likely candidates are pigs, due to their comparable size, their rapid growth, and the physiological similarity of their organs to ours. One of the major factors is making sure that the organ doesn’t get rejected as a result of antibodies in the recipient’s immune system. That is with all transplants but when it is from an animal, there are more risks like the potential presence of pathogens that are deadly to human such as mad cow

The conflicts of science and morality has been discussed throughout time, whether it be in popular literature, and fiction as well as in different statements and studies by people in different fields of knowledge, such as sociology to mathematics. In some ways, science can be right as it will help man eventually fix any of the problems he or she may have. However, it could also have a negative effect on man, meaning that humans will go through a serious moral degradation since they are creating life through science not natural.

Today’s modern biotechnology requires a lot of transplantation of cells, tissues, and organs. This is known as Xenotransplantation. In Atwood's novel we see “pigoons” whose purpose was to grow human organs and tissues. Pigoons are

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 “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.