Essay On Pig Xenotransplantation

organ or cell by the body's normal immune system.” (Rothblatt, 2017). Because the pig organ is of a foreign origin the human body rejects it, "The immunological and pathophysiological problems associated with pig xenotransplantation...are significant and probably reflect the fact that it has been 80 million years since the pig and human diverged on the evolutionary scale," wrote David K.C. Cooper, a surgeon at the Thomas E. Starzl Transplantation Institute at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. To prevent the human body’s rejection of a pig organ, Revivicor would have to remove a gene, called, alpha 1,3 galactosyltransferases otherwise known as the Gal gene. (Rothblatt, 2017). With the removal of this gene, the first Gal-free pigs
Transgenic xenotransplantation is a very controversial topic, with a plethora of arguments for and against the use of animal organ transplants. Scientists point to the evidence that with the ability to produce an unlimited supply of skin tissue, organ donations and pig islets, the ability to help 119,000 people awaiting life-saving organ donations (Donate, 2017), the ability to transplant up to 3 million pancreases for those suffering from Type 1 diabetes and further down the line the ability to create human vaccines for fighting diseases such as Anthrax, MRSA, H1N1 and HIV, proving that this technology is incredibly important in helping millions of people. Furthermore, recently published results demonstrated that pancreatic islet cells from Revivicor pigs, when transplanted into diabetic monkeys, cured diabetes for over 1 year with complete normalization of blood glucose levels (van der Windt et al., 2009). In opposition of xenotransplantation, many groups have objections to the research and development of such technology, these groups stating that it is unethical, against animal welfare, carries medical concerns, and contains significant social