Increasing the Feasibility of Xenotransplantation

Xenotransplantion looks like a viable mid-term technology - after biotechnology can make animal transplants effective and very safe, but before biotechnology has advanced to the point of creating human organs from scratch. From the Times Online: "Scientists in China have successfully reprogrammed pig skin and bone marrow cells into an embryo-like state with the potential to form every type of body tissue. The achievement promises to provide a tool for breeding pigs that are genetically engineered to carry human immune system proteins so that their organs are less likely to be rejected for transplant. ... Pig pluripotent stem cells would be useful in a number of ways, such as precisely engineering transgenic animals for organ transplantation therapies. The pig species is significantly similar to humans in its form and function, and the organ dimensions are similar to human organs. We could use embryonic stem cells or induced stem cells to modify the immune-related genes in the pig to make the pig organ compatible to the human immune system. Then we could use these pigs as organ donors to provide organs for patients that won’t trigger an adverse reaction from the patient’s own immune system."

Link: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life_and_style/health/article6417499.ece

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