In 1984, surgeon Leonard L. Bailey performed a revolutionary and very unusual operation. He transplanted a baboon’s heart into Fae, a baby who had been born with an incurable heart disease. Xenotransplants had been done for years, but never a baboon heart in a girl of such a young age .
The operation only made the little girl live for 21 more days. But despite the fatal outcome, the doctors confirmed that the baby’s body had not rejected the transplant. That finding stimulated research into xenotransplants, a type of transplant that has both advantages and disadvantages. We review them.
Advantages and disadvantages of xenotransplants
Transplant waiting lists exist because there are more patients in need of a transplant than compatible organs available. A situation that according to experts will worsen in the future due to the residential phone numbers increase in population more patients and the decrease in mortality many of the transplants come from deceased donors.
In this sense, animals could provide a practically unlimited source of organs for transplants, something that represents hope for the future of many people. There is even talk of creating transgenic animals as “organic reservoirs for human beings.”
One of the biggest disadvantages of animal organ transplants, compatibility. It is already difficult to find organs from other humans that do not generate rejection in the recipient, but in the case of xenotransplants the risk of acute rejection increases. This means that the success rates in this type of transplant are still low and it is only considered the last option in many cases.
The operation is also more complex and in countries
The drawbacks are not only medical but also moral. Is it ethical to use animals as “spare parts”? To what extent do we have the right to dispose of these organs?
On the other hand, not everyone is willing to receive an animal organ. Different religious denominations do not approve this type of transplants.
What alternatives exist?
In the future, the use of stem cells could allow the cultivation of human organs for transplantation. A practice that could completely eliminate the Book Your List risk of rejection since in theory these organs could be genetically modified or come from the patient’s own stem cells. And you, what do you think about transplants from animals to humans? Tell us in the comments.
