The availability of pig organs and cells to treat patients in terminal organ failure would represent a revolution in human medicine.
Such a possibility has recently become more realistic. It has now been determined that most of the difficulties inherent within
xenotransplantation stem from the independent evolutionary background of pigs and primates. These difficulties affect an important
number of crucial biological processes, particularly those involved in the regulation of key molecular cascades (such as coagulation
and complement). These issues need to be addressed adequately if long-term survival of pig organs transplanted into primates is to
be achieved.
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