Xeno: The Promise of Transplanting Animal Organs into Humans

by Cooper, David K. C.; Lanza, Robert P.

• ISBN13: 9780195128338
• ISBN10: 0195128338
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-03-23
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

The plight of a patient waiting months, sometimes years, for an organ transplant is one of the most heart-wrenching predicaments confronting medicine today. But the current critical shortage of human donor organs has had one positive consequence: it has stimulated promising new research into the field of xenotransplantation--the transplantation of organs from one animal species to another. In Xeno: The Promise of Transplanting Animal Organs Into Humans, David Cooper and Robert Lanza explore what may become one of the greatest medical advances of the 21st century. As scientists genetically engineer animal organs to evade the problems of rejection, we can expect a tremendous increase in xenotransplantation. This book recounts the several historical attempts to transplant animal organs into humans, and draws attention to the immense potential and promise of this form of therapy. The problems which remain, and recent breakthroughs in overcoming rejection and in "humanizing" pig organs for transplantation, are fully discussed. The authors also provide a fascinating consideration of the social and ethical questions posed by such procedures. Which patients should be the first to be offered this new form of therapy? Will transplanted animal organs transfer infectious viruses to the human recipient, and will they then be passed on to the community at large? Can society afford the major increase in healthcare expenditure that will result from our ability to provide a limitless number of donor organs? With profound implications for human health and longevity in the next millennium, Xeno is essential reading for anyone interested in the future of medicine.

Author Biography

David Cooper, MD, is an Immunologist at the Transplantation Biology Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital, and an Associate Professor of Surgery at Harvard Medical School. Robert Lanza, MD, is Senior Director of Tissue Engineering and Transplant Medicine, Advanced Cell Technology, Inc.

Table of Contents

An appreciation	xi
Robin Cook
Foreword	xiii
Robin Cook
Preface: The next great medical revolution?	xvii
Acknowledgments	xxi
The End of the Night Shift	1	(5)
Animal Attraction	6	(18)
From Icarus to the First Heart Transplant	24	(20)
All Animals Are Equal, but Some Are More Equal than Others	44	(11)
Zero Tolerance	55	(15)
A Spoonful of Sugar	70	(20)
The ``Humanized'' Pig	90	(17)
The Immunological Holy Grail	107	(13)
From Diabetes to Alzheimer's	120	(27)
The Discordant Concert	147	(13)
The Hottest Zone	160	(16)
Guinea Pigs	176	(14)
Animal Rights and Human Wrongs	190	(20)
Protecting the Public	210	(11)
Judgment Day	221	(9)
The Ultimate Piggy Bank	230	(18)
A Vision with a Task	248	(3)
Appendix	251	(2)
Glossary of selected biomedical terms	253	(8)
Bibliography	261	(4)
Index	265