- I know this isn’t exactly “current” to my knowledge, but it is something that’s being researched right now, besides there are animal cruelty and abortion threads, this one isn’t much different than those. -
Xenotransplantation is the process of transplanting organs or tissues from one species to another. Scientists are currently researching the possibility of using pigs for organ and tissue transplants to humans. There are thousands of people waiting for organ transplants that will die before they get one. In fact, in some places more than half of the people waiting for organs will die before getting one. Think about it, in order to receive an organ you need several things:
1. They need to be compatible to your blood type
2. They need to have been an organ donor
3. They need to have died near the person who needs the transplant(preferably in a hospital)
4. They need to have healthy organs
5. You need to be high enough up on the waiting list to get it.
As you can see there is a very low chance of getting a transplant for everybody who needs it! If you’re lucky enough to even get the organ you need it doesn’t end there. Let’s say you need a kidney transplant, and you get it, your body’s immune system will identify the new organ as a threat, like a virus when you get sick, and will reject the organ and begin breaking it down and attacking it. In order to prevent this a person with a transplant will need to take powerful drugs to suppress their immune system to keep it from attacking the organ. Because of these drugs it makes it extremely difficult for the person to fight off even simple illnesses like the flu or a cold and they will get sick frequently and easily.This is where Xenotransplantation comes in. If we can perfect xenotransplantation, and make it legal everywhere, it can save thousands, if not, millions of lives. So what are the benefits of xenotransplantation compared to transplants from humans? Well, for starters, recently scientists think they’ve solved the rejection problems by genetically modifying pigs’ DNA so that the human immune system won’t see tissue or organs from them as a threat. Because of this people with a pig organ versus a human organ wouldn’t need to take the drugs to suppress their immune systems. It would also be a lot easier for us to raise pigs for organs, and there would be an abundance of them. There would be a lot less people dying before they can get a life-saving transplant. We could use pigs for a variety of transplants including heart, liver, kidneys, and more. Like everything there are also cons to xenotransplantation too (although the pros outweigh them in my opinion) Some people think that transplanting pig organs to humans will spread diseases and create a pandemic, but the chance of even infecting somebody, let alone causing a pandemic, is extremely low. If they make sure the animals are healthy the lives saved by this procedure definitely outweigh the cons. Another issue is that pigs live a lot shorter lives than humans, and therefore their tissues degrade faster than humans. If you receive a transplant from a pig, or other animal, you’d possible have to have it replaced in 10-15 years. There are also a number of people who think it’s wrong to use animals for transplants. Either it’s against their religion or beliefs, or they’re animal rights activists who think it’s wrong to use(kill) animals for our own needs.
What are your thoughts on xenotransplantation? Should it become legal if they perfect it? Do you think it’s morally wrong?
Yeah that's true. I'm looking at my post now and I probably could have made it a blog xD It's too bad some people have to disagree with things that could be saving lives. They can personally choose not to get it done if they want.. I think it'll proobably be used to the future though. It could help a lot of people.
My dad got a kidney transplant from his sister (my aunt) and he was released the next day. The docters say they have never seen someone ecover so fast. He got into the news paper. However before the transplant he never talked in his sleep. And my aunt did. Now he sleep talks all the time.
I wouldn't care if they started doing this (once perfected) besides the fact that I wouldn't want a pig organ inside of me. Gues you'd call it gross? Wierd? Idk.
I dream of a better tomorrow, where chickens can cross the road and not be questioned about their motives.
Well, in theory, the organ is identical to that of a human, aside from that it was grown in a different animal. You wouldn't mind if your life depended on it.
Goodbye my only friend. Oh, did you think I meant you?
Businesses slaughter pigs and throw away the bones, organs, ect. We are actually using most of the waste with xenotransplantation which means we are using even more of the animal.
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