On the Topic of Xenotransplantation

An essay I wrote a few years ago on the topic of xenotransplantation:

There are many people around the world who are activists for animal rights. There are those who oppose the use of animals for entertainment, such as in zoos, aquariums, the circus, rodeos and dog fighting; those who oppose the use of animals for product testing; those who oppose the production of veal; those who are vegetarian; and those who oppose the production of milk. All of these situations have their pros and their cons. Most will probably say that the use of animals for product testing is a necessity. Others will argue that it is cruel to the animals and that the experimentees have rights. The focus of this essay is on the topic of xenotransplantation, or rather, organ transplants from animals to humans.

The demand for human organs for clinical transplantation far exceeds the supply. “Currently ten patients die each day in the United States while on the waiting list to receive lifesaving vital organ transplants” ("Xenotransplantation," 2009). In addition, there is research that suggests that the transplantation of cells and tissues may be “therapeutic” for certain diseases such as neurodegenerative disorders and diabetes. In this case as well there is a very short supply of human materials. Xenotransplantation may very well solve our organ transplant problem. There are experiments being conducted in which pig organs, being very similar to human organs, are being transplanted into primates. These studies document the primate’s body’s ability to accept the transplantation. So far the experiments have had little success and although the idea is genius, there is still much that needs to be discovered before the experiment can become successful. However, on a more triumphant side of xenotransplantation, pharmaceuticals and drugs are being extracted from animal organs and tissues; pig skin is used to help burn victims; intestines are used as sutures; and heart valves are harvested from pigs to replace defective human heart valves.

Looking at the cons of xenotransplantation the two largest human concerns are the rejection of the foreign organs and xenozoonoses. In the experiments conducted on primates so far, the primate body’s immune system has fought the new organs. In order to for the procedure to become successful, researchers must find a way to either modify the transplantation procedure or find a way to alter the host system to be more susceptible to the transplantation. Xenozooneses is the transfer of diseases across the species barrier and causing disease otherwise not found in humans. Many of the concerns involve the passing of deadly pathogens into the human species. Some believe this was how the AIDS virus first began. In an ethical standpoint, there is a debate on whether or not we have the right to endanger the lives of so many people when there is the possibility of significant dangers that we know very little about.

Aside from the negative aspects of xenotransplantation concerning humans, there is also the concern for the animals involved. If xenotransplantation were to become very successful, then the pigs the organs are being harvested from would be turned into spare parts factories. “Genetically-mutated and raised in artificial conditions, these remarkably intelligent animals face an unnatural and distressing existence” (“Xenotransplantation,” 2000). Returning to the introduction on animal rights, do we as humans have the right to turn these animals into factories for human use?

For my personal opinion, I am against xenotransplantation. My first concern is xenozoonoses. A few years ago I read a book titled The Hot Zone by Richard Preston. The focus of this book was the Ebola virus and it’s near introduction to the United States. The setting was in the Reston monkey facility in Virginia. The monkeys were brought from South Africa and there was a case of Ebola found in the monkeys in the facility. Ebola is an airborne virus. This case was noted to be even more severe than the two known cases in South Africa. The difference between this case and that of the two known cases of Ebola, they discovered, was that this strain could not be passed to humans. This book was based on a true story. Now, if we started to use animal organs to replace defective human organs, our risk of enabling diseases such as the Ebola Reston virus to enter the human system increases dramatically.

My second concern is for the animals. Not only are the pigs that the organs are being taken from suffering, but the animals that the experiments are being conducted on (the primates, in this case) are in distress as well. In most cases, the animals had to be put down very shortly after the transplantation because of their severe suffering. For the use of xenotransplantation, the pigs are genetically altered and uncomfortably confined, as well as harvested for organs, and left suffering or dead.

If xenotransplantation were to become successful it would mean that those in need of organ transplants could rest easy. It would also mean a risk of diseases crossing the species barrier. There are many diseases present in animals which do not affect humans and visa versa. Pigs would be turned into harvest factories. The debate still rages on and only the future will tell if xenotransplantation will one day be successful.

Citations

(2009, August 31). Xenotransplantation. Retrieved from http://www.fda.gov/BiologicsBloodVaccines/Xenotransplantation/default.htm

(2000, September 21). Xenotransplantation. Retrieved from http://www.uncaged.co.uk/xeno.htm