Xenotransplantation - Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Xenotransplantation - Nuffield Council on Bioethics
Xenotransplantation - Nuffield Council on Bioethics
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The promise and the problems<br />
Chapter 1<br />
The promise and the problems<br />
1.1 Rare attempts have been made to transplant animal organs or tissue into human<br />
beings since the early years of this century. Interest in this procedure, known as<br />
xenotransplantati<strong>on</strong>, has increased in the last few years because it is seen as <strong>on</strong>e way<br />
of reducing the shortage of human organs for transplantati<strong>on</strong>. Currently, this<br />
shortage severely limits the potential of transplantati<strong>on</strong> for treating human disease.<br />
1.2 The prospect of using animal organs and tissue for xenotransplantati<strong>on</strong> raises<br />
important issues, both practical and ethical, which must be debated. Will<br />
xenotransplantati<strong>on</strong> be scientifically feasible? If so, should it be permitted? Are there<br />
safety risks for recipients, or for the public at large? If so, how can patients and the<br />
wider populati<strong>on</strong> be protected? Should animals be used in this way? This chapter<br />
sets out the main issues raised by xenotransplantati<strong>on</strong> to be discussed in the body of<br />
the report. First, however, it sets the scene by describing the increasing success of<br />
transplantati<strong>on</strong> for treating organ failure and other c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s, and the increasingly<br />
acute shortage of human organs and tissue for transplantati<strong>on</strong>.<br />
Transplantati<strong>on</strong> in medicine<br />
1.3 For many c<strong>on</strong>diti<strong>on</strong>s involving organ failure, transplantati<strong>on</strong> has become routine, and<br />
is often the treatment of choice. In the early days, problems with organ rejecti<strong>on</strong>,<br />
and infecti<strong>on</strong>s resulting from early immunosuppressive regimes, made transplantati<strong>on</strong><br />
a risky procedure. But a new generati<strong>on</strong> of immunosuppressive drugs, and improved<br />
surgical techniques, now allow patients to receive transplants relatively safely and<br />
with c<strong>on</strong>siderable benefit. As Table 1.1 shows, more than four in five kidney<br />
transplant recipients live for at least a year, and over two-thirds live for at least five<br />
years. Other transplants are not as successful, but even in the least successful case of<br />
liver transplants, more than half the recipients live for l<strong>on</strong>ger than five years.<br />
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