Examples of Xenotransplantation
The xenotransplantation are techniques used in the medical field in which can be performed transplantation of a tissue or organ of a spice animal to a human, in order to save life. Generally, these tissues correspond to pigs and primates.
These techniques have been studied and improved to date and it is estimated that 90% of the patients who have received this type of tissue have survived, at least up to one year and several others up to 5 years.
10 Examples of Xenotransplantation
- Pig skin transplantation in patients who have suffered burns on the body.
- Baboon heart and kidney transplants were performed in humans during the 1960s.
- Liver transplantation.
- Transplantation of a pig aorta to a patient with an aneurysm in 2002.
- Transplanting a pig heart into a baboon which survived two years.
- Eye tissue transplant
- Kidney transplantation
- Mother cells
- Heart valve
- Small intestine
- Lung transplant
Advantage and Disadvantage of Xenotransplants
The xenotransplantation are more common than you might think. For three decades, many patients have received tissues from baboons and pigs temporarily until a definitive human donor is found, but the satisfactory outcome of these cases cannot be determined with an exact figure.
If we talk about disadvantages, an important one is the economic issue, since these transplants turn out to be very expensive, in addition, it must be taken into account that the medical and ethical problems still remain, but this does not prevent it from continuing to be a very interesting alternative for save people’s lives.
Finally, it is important to point out that one of the most persistent medical problems is that of the human immune system and that it is the main reason why a tissue can be rejected by the organism of a transplanted patient.