The world of medicine is always moving forward expanding, finding answers, and taking new turns. Xenotransplantation could be the next big step. It could change the face of medicine and we, as the FFA, coud take part in this big move.
Xenotransplantation is the transplantation of non-human organs or cells into a human body. An example of this is when they replace someone’s heart valve with that of a pig. Pigs are the most common donor when it comes to xenotransplantation. This is because they mature fast, they’re born in large litters, and their organs/cells are most compatible with our own. They can even be geneticaly modified to increase these similarities and make them a near perfect match to us.
According to Official Organ Donation Statistics, “20 people die each day waiting for a transplant” To put that into perspective, that’s around 140 people lost in 1 week, 620 people in a month, and 7200 people in a single year. These numbers are very dismal, but they don’t have to be. If continued research is done on xenotransplantation and some of the more serious issues are woked out, this could offer the prospect of an unlimited supply of organs and cells for clinical transplantation. …show more content…
The bodies immune system will occasionally reject the transplanted organ despite the fact that it is a perfectly healthy organ because it sees it as infectious or unfamiliar. At that point, the bodies immune system sends antigens to destroy the new organ. The breeding of transgenic pigs as well as cloning techniques help to reduce this risk, but none the less, the problem is still existant. By offering our support, the FFA could aid in the continued research and development of solutions to help eliminate the risk of rejection with these