Xenotransplantation

Xenotransplantation

The progress that's 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 available organs.

People are naturally afraid of what they don't know or understand and suspicious of anything that's unfamiliar or strange, such as xenotransplantation. Nevertheless xenotransplantation has been around for a long time and is not such a new and radical idea as most people might think.

The origins of xenotransplantation stretch as far back as 1667. However no real progress was made until 1923 when Carlos Williamson, "observed the underlying principles in transplantation organ failure and developed the basic biological principles of `rejection'." (Malouin. 479) By the end of World War II the bodies defense system had come to be known as the immune system. Then in the 1950's, Emile Holman discovered that "rejection is a result of antibodies." (Malouin. 479) Now, finally armed with an arsenal of immunosuppressant drugs and the knowledge of antibodies and hyper acute rejection, surgeons began primate-to-human xenotransplants with an unparalleled degree of accomplishment.

The pivotal turning point in the advancement of xenotransplantatoin was during the 1960's. Up until this time all attempts at xenotransplants had failed. Then in 1963, "Hitchcock performed a kidney xenotransplantation of a baboon on a sixty-five year old wom...

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...much to be gained.

Works Cited

Altman, K. Lawrence. "Baboon Cells Might Repair Aids-Ravaged Immune System" Rpt. In Perspectives: Case Studies for Readers and Writers. Ed. Joanna Gibson. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 2002. 476 - 486.

Malouin, Rebecca. "Surgeon's Quest for Life: The History and Future of Xenotransplantation" Rpt. In Perspectives: Case Studies for Readers and Writers. Ed. Joanna Gibson. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 2002. 476 - 486.

Nowak, Rachel. "FDA Puts Brakes On Xenotransplants" Rpt. In Perspectives: Case Studies for Readers and Writers. Ed. Joanna Gibson. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 2002. 476 - 486.

Pennisi, Elizabeth. "FDA Panel OKs Baboon Marrow Transplant" Rpt. In Perspectives: Case Studies for Readers and Writers. Ed. Joanna Gibson. New York: Addison Wesley Longman, Inc., 2002. 476 - 486.