Benefits and risks
Xenotransplantation is the term used to cover the transplantation of cells, tissues or organs from one species to another - such as from pigs to humans (ie, animal-to-human transplantation). The procedure was initially thought unlikely to succeed but recent advances in genetic manipulation of animals and the mechanisms of transplant rejection have made xenotransplantation appear more feasible.
It is possible to distinguish three three types of animal-to-human transplantation: whole animal organ transplants; animal cellular therapies; and animal external therapies.
It is crucial for the advancement of xenotransplantation that the benefits to society outweigh the risks and whilst there is enormous potential to assist mankind, there are unique bioethical challenges and dilemmas. The question of when it is permissible to inflict risks on others without their consent is one that we all face in our everyday lives, but which is often brought to our attention in contexts of technological innovation and scientific uncertainty. Xenotransplantation has the potential to save or improve the lives of many patients but gives rise to the possibility of infectious agents being transferred from donor animals into the human population. As well as being an important ethical issue in its own right it therefore provides a useful vehicle for exploring the more general question of how to balance the benefits of a practice against the risks to third parties. The selected articles discusses the exceedingly difficult decision-making processes, legal and otherwise, that must balance the potential benefits and the public’s feelings and fears. This need for technology-based risk/benefit analyses on a global level is perhaps the primary ethical dilemma of our global society as we enter this new century. These articles illustrate this challenge by focusing on xenotransplantation.
2007
GROTH, C. G., "Prospects in Xenotransplantation: A personal view", Transplantation Proceedings, vol. 39, April 2007, pp. 685-687.
2006
KOBAYASHI, Takaaki; YAMANOUCHI, Kazuya., "The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety: implications for xenotransplantation", Xenotransplantation, vol. 13, 1, January 2006, pp. 10-11
2002
NOGUÉS, Ramón M., Ingeniería genética y manipulación de la vida. Bases para la educación, Cisspraxis, S. A., Barcelona, 2002.
PLATT, Jeffrey L. (Editor), Xenotransplantation: Basic Research and Clinical Applications, Humana Press, 2002
VALDES GONZALEZ, Rafael., "Xentransplantation’s benefits outweigh risks", Nature, vol. 420, 2002, p. 268
2001
CHAPMAN, Louisa., "Xenotransplantation: Benefits and Risks", Emerging Infectious Diseases, vol. 7, May/June 2001 Supplement,
pp. 545-548.
JONES, Gareth; SAGEE, Sharon., "Xenotransplantation: hope or delusion?", Biologist, vol. 48, June 2001, pp. 129-132
TOLEDO-PEREYRA, Luis H.; MEYER, Harriet S.; MORSE, David H., "Xenotransplantation", Journal of the American Medical Association, vol. 285, 5, 2001, pp. 658-660.
2000
JULVEZ, J.; VANNIER, P.; BORIE, D.; CALMUS, Y.; CAMPION, J.; CLEMENT, B.; HERRENDSCHMIDT, N.; HORAUD, F.; HOUDEBINE, L.; LAGRANGE, P.; LARZUL, D.; LEBRANCHU, Y.; LE-MAUFF, B. ; MORNEX, J.; SALMON, H.; SOULLIOU, J.; TROUVIN, J.; VAIMAN, M.; WEILL, B.; WOLF, P.; ZANDOTTI, C., "Risques et gestion des risques lies aux xenogreffes", Pathologie Biologie, vol. 48, 4, 2000, pp. 399-403
1999
DAAR, A., "Xenotransplantation: Informed consent, contract and patient surveillance", Biomedical Ethics, vol. 4, 3, 1999, pp. 87-91.
MARFANY, Gemma, "Modelos animales de enfermedades hereditarias", en CASADO, María y GONZÀLEZ-DUARTE, Roser (Eds.), Los retos de la genéticas en el siglo XXI: genética y bioética, Edicions de la Universitat de Barcelona, Barcelona, 1999, pp. 181-192.
NICOLLE, Lindsay E., "Xenotransplantation: An animal future?", Canadian Medical Association Journal, vol. 161, 1999, p. 1291.
PLATT, J. L.; NAGAYASU, T; L, Jeffrey., "Current status of xenotransplantation", Clinical & Experimental Pharmacology & Physiology, vol. 26, 12, December 1999, pp. 1026-1032
WELSH, Ian.; EVANS, Robert., "Xenotransplantation, Risk, Regulation and Surveillance: Social and Technological Dimensions of Change", New Genetics and Society, vol. 18, 2/3, 1999, pp. 197-217.
1998
BACH, F. H.; FISHMAN, J. A.; DANIELS, N.; PROIMOS, J., et al., "Uncertainty in xenotransplantation: Individual benefit versus collective risk", Nature Medicine, 4, 1998, pp. 141-144.
PLATT, Jeffrey L., "New directions for organ transplantation", Nature, 1998, Vol. 392, pp. 11 y ss.
1996
National Research Council (United States). Commission on Life Sciences. Institute of Animal Resources. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1996.
1995
TOURAINE, J. L., et al. (eds.), Organ Shortage: The Solutions, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, 1995.
CHAPMAN, L. E.; FOLKS, T. M.; SALOMON, D. R.; PATTERSON, A. P.; EGGERMAN, T. E.; NOGUCHI, P. D., "Xenotransplantation and Xenogenetic Infections", New England Journal of Medicine, 1995, 333, pp. 1498-1501.
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