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Donor organ shortage issues
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There are more then 3500 Canadians on a waiting list for an organ transplant. Of that 3500 more then 1500 of them die each year because they do not get the organ (www.kincanada.ca). There is such a high demand in organs that scientist around the globe have been trying to find a way that will help diminish the rate. Scientist from Britain, Korea, United States and other countries around the world been looking into using the organs from genetically modified pigs for human organ transplant. Can pigs be genetically modified so their organs will be accepted by the human body?
Modified pigs have to hide their origin from the human immune system (www.gate2biotech.com). Pig organs are roughly the same size as human organs and work roughly the same way. Lord Winston and his colleagues from Imperial College in London, have an idea that if the pig has 6 human genes that it will lower the chance that the organ will be rejected by the human body (www.naturalnews.com). The pig organs are coated with a sugar molecule, Alpha Galactose, that has a small reaction rate in humans. Human antibodies attach themselves to the sugar molecule and would quickly destroy the newly transplanted pig organ (www.nationalgeographics.com).
Making pig organs suitable for humans is a giant task; a task that needs a goal. Lei Xiao, of the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, who led their research explains that they modified pigs stem cells would be useful because the pigs organs are very similar to human organs. They would use the stem cells of an embryo and adjust the immune genes from the human to make the pig organ compatible to the human immune system. They would then provide the organs available to patients and the organs will not be rej...
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.... CNN World 23 Mar 2011 from cnnworld.tv http://www.cncworld.tv/news/v_show/13473_Pig_organs_for_humans_.shtml
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Trivedi, Bijal P. “Cloned Pigs modified for Use in Human Transplants”. National Geographic News 3 Jan 2002. Retrieved 6 April 2011 from nationalgeographic.com
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Thesis: I will explain the history of organ transplants, starting with ancient ideas before modern science until the 21st century.
Many ailments can be cured or at least ameliorated by the replacement of an organ and the progression of medical science has increasingly allowed more types of organs to be successfully transplanted. Doctors’ ability to transplant is thwarted, however, by the disproportionate number of patients in need of such life-saving treatment relative to the number of donor organs available. Due to a variety of circumstances there just aren’t enough spare organs to go around. In light of this situation and the ever increasing number of people who die every year while waiting for an organ donor, xenotransplantation has become a very attractive alternative to human transplants, for obvious reasons. While there may be a shortage of human organ donors, we can easily envision animals being bred for their organs and providing an almost unlimited supply.
Human beings continuously changing in order to adapt to the situations that surround us so that we may create a better environment and life for our future generations. What makes this case any different? When looking at all the potential these artificial organs present, we must also consider some possible negatives and what issues may arise by researching and implementing them. The most obvious and well-known issue is potentially the main issue with regard to artificial organs. The main method of producing the organs is through the use of stem cells, which due to ethical reasons has been highly cont...
In America, there are currently 122,198 candidates on the Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network (OPTN) waiting list (“OPTN”). Due to a lack of available organ donors, around 18 waiting list candidates will die every day (“OPTN”). This has prompted the development and investigation of xenotransplantation—the transplantation of animal tissue and organs to potential human candidates. Currently in its early phases of development and study, xenotransplantation is controversial for its high failure rate, with only a few cases successful. This is attributed to the human immune system rejecting those animal donated organs, thereby potentially causing immediate death to the human candidate. On the one hand, pre-clinical trials have broadened the understanding of the human immune system, as well as furthered xenotransplantation research. However, because xenotransplantation has achieved little success, opponents of the procedure argue that it is unethical to continue its practice. It is also important to note that trials often use baboons in place of humans, which presents several variables to be examined before further human trials can begin. Moreover, the potential acquisition of zoonotic infection is a serious risk that cannot be fully determined without the use of human subjects. Thus, not only will xenotransplantation require more extensive study, it will also require hundreds of animal lives, all in an effort to create nothing more than a last resort.
Before Crake had even created the Crakers, the ‘perfect’ human, the world was filled with genetically modified items. One popular creation of the story, the pigoon, was a pig that was genetically modified to have multiple organs that can be used for transplants. Which happens to be something that scientists are working on right now. In the story, the pigoons evolve, from a mind of a pig, to a pig with a functioning human brain.
Currently 70,000 Americans are on the organ waiting list and fewer than 20,000 of these people can hope to have their lives saved by human organ transplantation.1 As a result of this shortage, there has been a tremendous demand for research in alternative methods of organ transplantation. Private companies are racing to develop these technologies with an estimated market of six billion dollars.2 Xenotransplantation, or cross-species organ transplantation, appears to be the most likely solution in the near future, and cloned pigs are the main candidates. Pigs and humans have remarkable similarities in physiology, which along with cloning makes pigs strong possibilities for organ donors. A controversial alternative method involves the use of genetically altered headless human beings as organ donors. Although this method may not be developed for some years, scientists are already discussing the necessary technologies. Whether the solution is the cloning of a pig or a human, organ farms may provide us with a solution to our ever-increasing need for donors.
Ethical issues also play a role in the selection of the solutions. Most patients perceive xenotransplantation as an acceptable alternative to transplantation of human organs in life-threatening situations provided the potential benefits outweigh any likely adverse effects on the animals. Xenotransplantation of organs from chimpanzees and baboons has been avoided, because of ethical concerns as chimpanzees are listed as endangered species and the fear of transmission of deadly viruses. Pigs are plentiful, quick to mature, breed well in captivity, have large litters, and have vital organs roughly comparable in size to those of humans. Further there are physiologic similarities between their antibodies to human antibodies, and also since they are already being used in the consumer market, organs have been mainly harvested from pigs. Humans have had prolonged and close contact with pigs, their use for the purpose of xenotransplantation is believed to be less likely to introduce any new infectious agents. Porcine islet cells of Langerhans have been injected into patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Porcine skin has been grafted onto burn patients, and pig neuronal cells have been transplanted into patients with Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease.
“What are the potential uses of human stem cells and the obstacles that must be overcome before these potential uses will be realized?” . InStem Cell Information. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009.
Williams, Rebecca D. “Organ Transplants from Animals.” FDA Consumer. June 1996, Vol 30 Issue 5. [Online] http://www.fda.gov/fdac/features/596_xeno.html
Shaw, Myles. “Animal Cloning—How Unethical Is It?- Draft 1.” UTSA: WRC 1023, 3 Mar 2014. Print.
“Transplanting animal organs into humans is feasible.” USA Today. November 1999: 54-55. Gehlsen, Gale M., Ganion, Larry R. and Robert Helfst.
John A. Robertson, “Human Cloning and the Challenge of Regulation,” The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 339, no. 2 (July 9, 1998), pp. 119-122.
Why should we use these innocent pigs to grow human organs. if 100,000 people are waiting for an organ, humans will go and use up 100,000 pigs and grow organs inside them. This idea of having that many pigs cut open, that is absolutely unethical. An animal should not go through a surgery just to help out a human. In many religions pigs are known to be unclean and sanitary. Also the recent H1N1 flu was transmitted by pigs, and if there was another
In 2004 another experiment was created in Rochester Minnesota at the Mayo Clinic. The clinic was the first to create pigs that used human blood in place of their own. In 2005, two more hybrids are created the first being a mouse with human brain cells and the second is a feline-human protein hybrid. These hybrids are being created to fight and cure cancers and diseases including Parkinson and Alzheimer’s disease. 2007 and 2008, sheep ...
Researchers in this field are seek to know how stem cells can be used to develop into specialized cells or tissue, which aims restore lost function in damaged organs or even grow new fully functioning organs for transplant.