When I got my driver’s license, I was asked if I wanted to be an organ donor. I said “yes” even though the idea of some random stranger using my heart or kidneys after I die freaks me out, because I knew that the current supply of organs does not meet the demand. (Also, reading many sad books about sick people made me feel guilty about saying “no” to being an organ donor; some poor sick person who has been waiting for months for an organ has a better chance of survival if I decide to be an organ donor and donating my organs should not matter especially if I’m dead and do not need them anymore. Anyways, I guess the point is: I am an organ donor largely because of guilt and I really wish I did not feel that there was a need for me to sacrifice my organs after death.)
Even though a bunch of people die everyday and a bunch of organs are harvested, the waiting time for organs is still extremely long. For example, if you needed a new kidney, the medium waiting time would be 1,219 days.1 When an organ transplant is critical to a patient’s survival, waiting can be disastrous.
However, animals, combined with technology, may help reduce the time patients have to wait for a donated organ. Xenotransplantation, a technique where living cells, tissues, or organs from a nonhuman species is planted in humans, may prove to be an alternative to traditional methods of organ transplantation.2 When a patient needs an organ transplant, an animal organ can be genetically altered with the patient’s genes to prevent the patient’s immune system from rejecting the organ. There are still many potential problems to the technique; for example xenogeneic infections introduced from the animal to the human through xenotransplantation may prove problematic.2 However, as more research is done and people learn more about genetics, the immune system, and organ transplantation, xenotransplantation may become more practical and widely adopted.
Source: http://www.revivicor.com/technology.html
1http://www.organdonor.gov/about/transplantationprocess.html
2http://www.stanford.edu/dept/HPS/transplant/html/fda.htm
The ultimate solution to the organ problem lies in wait within stem cell research. I don’t understand why there is such a stigma on it. Imagine: one day, through stem cells, we could grow human, implant-ready organs in abundance; or, even better, enable a patient to grow the missing organ inside themselves, regenerating dead tissue and replacing failed structures.
Yeah, I think xenotransplantation is a really cool science-fictiony type thing. Although apparently science is progressing so far that head transplants may actually become a real thing in the future for people whose bodies are permanently damaged, and I don’t think using a pig would work for that…but on the bright side, now instead of worrying about dead people using your organs, you can worry about someone walking around with your whole body and a different head!
Interesting stuff. I’m not sure how I would feel if I had a genetically engineered pig’s kidney or something, though it’s probably better than waiting three years for an organ they may or may not be rejected by your body.
This was very interesting. I am also an organ donor, more because I just signed up and it was easy enough to do.
I know people who have waited years for organs that the desperately need only for something to go wrong and then they have to wait for even more time.
This system is fundamentally flawed and if there is a way to safely make is quicker and easier, I’m all for it.
–K.E. Van Develde