Xenotrans plantation Health Dictionary

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Xenotransplantation: From 2 Different Sources

TRANSPLANTATION of organs from one species to another – for example, from pigs to humans. The use of organs from appropriately cloned animals was seen as a possible solution to the shortage of human organs for transplantation; however, research has shown that rejection remains a problem and there is also an unresolved possibility that diseases might be transmitted across the species barrier. It seems likely that STEM CELL research will provide a more realistic source of tissues for transplantation to replace diseased organs in humans.
Health Source: Medical Dictionary
Author: Health Dictionary
n. the *transplantation of organs from one species into another. Experimental work into the feasibility of transplanting pig organs into human beings is under way. It includes the genetic manipulation of pig embryos to produce animals whose organs produce a human cell-surface protein and would therefore not be rejected at transplantation.
Health Source: Oxford | Concise Colour Medical Dictionary
Author: Jonathan Law, Elizabeth Martin

Transplantation

n. the implantation of an organ or tissue (see graft) from one part of the body to another or from one person (the donor) to another (the recipient). Success for transplantation depends on the degree of compatibility between donor and graft: it is greatest for *autografts (self-grafts), less for *allografts (between individuals of the same species), and least for *xenografts (between different species; see xenotransplantation). Skin and bone grafting are examples of transplantation techniques in the same individual. A kidney transplant involves the grafting of a healthy kidney from a donor to replace the diseased kidney of the recipient: renal transplantation is the second commonest example of human transplant surgery using allografts (after corneal grafts – see keratoplasty). Bone-marrow, blood-stem-cell, heart, heart–lung, pancreatic, and liver transplants are also very successful. Patients have undergone laryngeal transplantation following *laryngectomy. Transplanting organs or tissues between individuals is a difficult procedure because the recipient’s immune system perceives the transplant as a foreign object and rejects it. Special treatment (e.g. with *immunosuppressant drugs) is needed to prevent transplant rejection, and the less common but equally devastating effects of an attack by the graft’s immune cells on the host.

Ethical questions arise over donated organs. If the donor is living, is the organ properly a *gift? If the donor has recently died, how has the death been judged and has *consent been given explicitly by the patient or surviving relatives (opting in) or is it assumed if the donor has not forbidden it (opting out)?... transplantation

Xenograft

(heterograft) n. a living tissue graft that is made from an animal of one species to another of a different species. For example, attempts have been made to graft animal organs into humans. *Bioengineering techniques are now available to produce animals whose *MHC is compatible with that of another species. Xenografts currently used include porcine heart valves and porcine skin for specific types of hernia repair. See also xenotransplantation.... xenograft

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