Xenotransplantation - Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Xenotransplantation - Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Xenotransplantation - Nuffield Council on Bioethics
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Annex A : Public c<strong>on</strong>sultati<strong>on</strong><br />
Annex A<br />
Public c<strong>on</strong>sultati<strong>on</strong><br />
1 The Working Party agreed at an early stage that steps should be taken to collect the<br />
views of interested parties <strong>on</strong> xenografts. Early in April 1995 about 130 organisati<strong>on</strong>s<br />
and individuals were c<strong>on</strong>tacted directly and a brief announcement and invitati<strong>on</strong> to<br />
comment were carried in the Daily Telegraph, Guardian, Independent and<br />
The Times. Copies of the letters and informati<strong>on</strong> sent out are in Annex B.<br />
2 The list of individuals and organisati<strong>on</strong>s c<strong>on</strong>tacted is in Annex C. Efforts were made<br />
to ensure that the following areas were represented: researchers and practiti<strong>on</strong>ers in<br />
the field; animal rights and animal welfare organisati<strong>on</strong>s; organisati<strong>on</strong>s lobbying <strong>on</strong><br />
genetic engineering; commercial interests and religious groups. It was anticipated<br />
that professi<strong>on</strong>als working in the field would alert the Working Party to current<br />
scientific developments and issues; other interest groups and members of the public<br />
would give a sense of the strength of feeling or indicate themes that might otherwise<br />
be missed. The list of submissi<strong>on</strong>s received is in Annex D.<br />
3 Most submissi<strong>on</strong>s came from organisati<strong>on</strong>s or from individuals with an organisati<strong>on</strong>al<br />
affiliati<strong>on</strong>. The largest group of resp<strong>on</strong>ses came from universities, colleges, learned<br />
societies, research institutes and research councils. The next largest group was that<br />
representing religious organisati<strong>on</strong>s. Several submissi<strong>on</strong>s came from what can be<br />
broadly termed animal interest groups. A few submissi<strong>on</strong>s came from those with<br />
direct commercial interests in this field.<br />
4 The resp<strong>on</strong>se from members of the public was small. The Working Party received<br />
five submissi<strong>on</strong>s from individuals writing entirely in their private capacity as<br />
c<strong>on</strong>cerned citizens and a submissi<strong>on</strong> from a group of sixth-formers from Dalriada<br />
School, Ballym<strong>on</strong>ey, Northern Ireland. In comments ranging from two or three<br />
sentences to half a paragraph, 26 pupils gave their individual reacti<strong>on</strong>s to the c<strong>on</strong>cept<br />
of a xenograft and the possibilities it offers. Almost all the issues discussed in this<br />
report were raised in some form across this set of resp<strong>on</strong>ses. Reacti<strong>on</strong>s of amazement<br />
and initial doubt am<strong>on</strong>gst these young people gave way, for the most part, to<br />
acceptance of something that might benefit humankind - though three resp<strong>on</strong>ses<br />
ruled the idea of xenografts out completely. “That”, commented <strong>on</strong>e member of the<br />
Working Party, “is as good an indicati<strong>on</strong> as any of the range of public opini<strong>on</strong> in this<br />
area.”<br />
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