Organ Transplants

Paper Summary:

This paper reviews and discusses Dr. William Beschorner and his belief that organ farming is a solution to the lack of organs readily available for donation and transplantation. According to the paper, specifics of his research deals with how to get the human body to adopt an animal organ, as it is the natural response of our bodies to reject anything alien.

From the Paper:

"The core concept behind his revolutionary research is that by injecting cells from a potential donor into the host, the host will be able to accept transplants later on. This technique was successfully used between sheep and pigs. Beschorner used this technique to inject bone marrow from sheep into fetal pigs. As a result, the pigs were born with a tolerance to sheep cells. The pigs that were produced ultimately are transgenic, which means that they have genetic material from two different species within their body. Using the same strategy, he was able to transplant the aorta of these pigs into sheep with strong acceptance rates. He has found that "the tolerance goes both directions, the pig become tolerant to the sheep cells, and the sheep cells in the pig are programmed to become tolerant to pig cells" (NPG). This revolutionary technique is what Beschorner wishes to adapt to the next stage of his experiment. In one experiment, Beschorner grafted pig hearts onto the necks of the sheep. As a result, the sheep's blood would flow through the heart but it didn't replace the sheep's own heart. Such experiments demonstrated that only seven of the thirty five within the test actually experienced vascular rejection, whereas all of the sheep receiving hearts from unmodified pigs exhibited vascular rejection."

Sample of Sources Used:

• REEVES, BOB. DESIGNER PIGS GOAL OF MED CENTER RESEARCH . 25 Jan. 2007 <http://net.unl.edu/newsFeat/med_eth/me_xeno3.html>.
• Beschorner, William E. Ximerex, Inc. 25 Jan. 2007 <http://www.ximerex.com/ pages/196805/index.htm>.
• REEVES, BOB. ANIMAL ORGANS HOLD PROMISE FOR HUMANS . 25 Jan. 2007 <http://net.unl.edu/newsFeat/med_eth/me_xeno.html>.
• Jonietz, Erika. A donor Named Wilbur. 25 Jan. 2007 <http://www.islet.org/ forum020/messages/18140.htm>.
• Beschorner, William E. Heart Xenograft Survival With Chimeric Pig Donors and Modest Immune Suppression. 25 Jan. 2007 <http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?artid=1522128>.

More papers on Organ Transplants:

• Analytical Essay # 56047 : "Organ Transplants: An Ethical Analysis"
• Essay # 18225 : "Organ Transplants"
• Essay # 89108 : "Organ Transplantation and Legislation"

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