Pig Organs for Humans Coming?
We have an organ shortage that desperately needs ameliorating. With such pressing needs, some wish to bend or even break important ethical rules by, for example, obliterating the dead donor rule so that people can be killed for their organs.
We can't go down that road, but if it works, we can possibly use organs from pigs. This process known as xenotransplantation, may be coming within ten years according to a report, with kidneys being the most likely organs. From the story:
Fear of a porcine virus crossing the species barrier is another issue to ponder and solve, but other than animal rights activists who think pigs are as important as people, who can hope that this research does not bear fruit?Organs from pigs could be widely available for transplanting into patients in a decade, Lord Winston said yesterday. The first organs suitable for transplanting, most likely kidneys, are expected to be ready within three years and, if tests are successful, their use could be widespread by 2018.
A herd of as few as 50 pigs is expected to be kept as breeding stock to provide organs "to order" and to slash waiting times for thousands of people needing transplants...
Human immune systems are quick to react to "foreign bodies" but the scientists are confident that they are close to modifying the genetic make-up of pigs to "humanise" their organs and make animal-to-human transplants possible.
posted by Wesley J. Smith @ 8:06 AM
5 Comments
5 Comments:
Viral and other technical issues aside, would Jewish and Islamic patients be permitted to use these organs according to their religious laws?
I have no idea. Thanks.
The Science was first fantasy that such methodology could be developed by a human mind and then looked for in Scientific application. Who would have thunk it? Not Richard Dawkins. Wink
Pig parts used in humans is not all that futuristic. A common heart valve replacement therapy is now to use the heart valve of a pig. It avoids the need for blood thinners if an artificial valve is used.
Hello Robert. My mom had Romatic fever as a child when she was 9 years old in the 1920 era. Her heart had permanent damage in the valves. She was given pig valves in her latter years and when they wore down she was given metal ones. It was pretty creepy listening to those metal valves beating whereas the pig valves were silent . Those valves and mom's own personal adjustments to allow for her heart damage allowed her to live into her 78th year before she passed away. Medical Science certainly gave my mom a long and productive life.
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