Preclinical Studies in Xenotransplantation

Abstract

Many people with organ failure such as heart or kidney disease need a transplant to survive. In the case of kidney failure patients can be kept alive by the artificial kidney however this sort of mechanical traeatment is much less satisfactory than a transplant. Unfortunately most patients who would benefit from a transplant are unable to receive one beacuse of the shortage of living or cadaver donors. A possible solution to this shortage of organs for transplantation is to use animal organs. Pigs are the most suitable animal donor. However, a pig-to-human organ is rejected immediatly because of the distance between the species. Over the last 10 years, we and others have been trying to under..