Why in news?
Recently in New York the doctors in the University Of Maryland School Of Medicinetransplanted a genetically modified pig heart into a 57-year-old man dying of heart failure. This is the first remarkable successful transplant of a pig’s heart into a human being in the world.
What is it-
Xenotransplantation-
- Xenotransplantation is the process of the transplantation or implantation of non-human live cells, tissues or organs into human recipients. These cells, tissues and organs are known as xenografts or xenotransplants.
- In the last century, Transplantation to replace faulty organs is one of the amazing achievements of medicine. So the list of organs that can be transplanted and the number of transplants has increased and the outcomes have gotten better. The ‘xenotransplant’ is a reminder of the endless possibilities to treat otherwise untreatable diseases.
- The earlier effort of animal to human heart transplants have failed, because patients’ bodies swiftly rejected the animal organs. The most memorable case was that of the American Baby Fae, who received a baboon heart a congenital heart defect in 1984 and lived 21 days.
Need of Xenotransplantation–
Organ shortage and fewer donors-
- As per the World Health Organization (WHO), annually over 114,000 organ transplants are executed in the world, but it accomplish less than 10% of global needs.
- There is a need of 25,000-30,000 liver transplants annually in India. On the contrary due to shortage only 1,500 transplants are performed. Likewise about 50,000 people suffer from heart failure annually and only about 10 to 15 heart transplants are performed every year. So this development could solve the global organ shortage.
- Due to organ shortage there is a large scale increase in organ trafficking and even in some countries the organs of executed prisoners are used in transplants. There is estimation that globally nearly 5–10% of kidney transplants results from commercial transactions between a recipient and a paid living donor.
Increasing disease burden- The average life expectancy has increased with the advancements in medicine and the demand for organ transplants is increased due to old age and lifestyle issues. Out of total organ transplants, 68% accounts for kidney transplantation only, which is the most frequently transplanted organ.
Issues in obtaining human organs: Some organs can only be acquired from deceased or brain-dead donors. For example, the heart, liver, etc.
Advantages of Xenotransplantation–
- There will be availability of Organs shortly and electively.
- It can eradicate illegal organ trafficking and the use of organs of executed prisoners.
- The harmful effects of brain death on donor organs will be evaded.
- It will eliminate the cultural barriers for donation of organs from deceased person present in some countries such as Japan.
- One does not have to seek consent from an animal that can be sacrificed for the organ. However, not all agree with such a narrow utilitarian approach.
- There will be unlimited supply that will allow transplantation procedures in borderline candidates who might otherwise be declined.
Advantages of Pigs in Xenotransplantation-
- There is huge demand of organs transplantation and Pigs are gradually becoming popular for organ transplantation because Pig organs are more similar to human organs in terms of anatomy and physiology. For example physiologically, cardiac output and stroke volume both are main indicators of cardiac function, have been reported to be comparable in pigs and humans.
- Pigs are genetically modifiable that can reduce the chances of rejection by the human body from a scientific angle.
- Pigs can give immense supply of organs, tissues, and cells. For example it is easy to raise adult human organ size in six months from pigs.
Challenges with Xenotransplantation-
- Animal rights- Several animal rights activists have strongly opposed the killing of animals and the use of their organs in humans. PETA has criticized the pig heart transplant.
- Diseases transmission- Xenotransplantation raises concerns with regard to till now known and unknown diseases to humans from recognized and unrecognized infectious agents and thereafter the possible transmission to human population. With current techniques, new infectious agents may not be easily identifiable and sometimes the disease might occur years after the transplantation.
- Long term functioning of organs- Generally animals have shorter lifespan compare to humans meaning that their tissues can live short lifespan. So there is a question of whether the organ will function in the long term or not.
- Religious violations- There will be harm to religious sentiments because some animals like pork are strictly prohibited in Islam and many other religions.
Prospects of Xenotransplantation-
- Increased Organ Availability.
- Open New Research Areas.
- Life-saving benefits.
- Satisfy the supply and demand of organs.