The Benefits of Xenotransplantation
New technology has opened many doors of opportunity for advancements in medical science. Not even in our wildest dreams would we have imagined a world where animal organs could be safely transplanted into humans. A few years ago, this process called xenotransplantation, was completed for the very first time. The only dilemma critics had with the process involved the chances of infection and organ rejection from the patient. Through experimentation and advances made in the process, these problems have been greatly reduced. Some doctors believe that xenotransplantation will perfect our world one transplant at a time by providing an alternate route to waiting on donor lists. Xenotransplantation is an important advancement in medical science because this process is the key to ending our current organ shortage problem and saving lives.
With recent advances in medical technology many ethical debates have been raised that were not previously debatable. These topics include animal rights, a human's right to life, and the ethical justification of the process itself. Xenotransplantation, which involves transplanting animal organs, tissues, or cells to replace failing organs or treat diseases in humans, is one of many ethically debated topics. When animal rights activists think of xenotransplantation, they think of how unethical they assume the process to be. People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, an organization aimed towards animal rights, could not be more against the use of animals for scientific use and testing since the research can be cruel and can cause permanent damage to the animal.
When dealing with animal ethics I believe the question at hand is the purpose of the experi...
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... with AIDS. As a society we have made the rational decision that the benefits outweigh the risks, however real those risks may be. You could also take for instance the discovery of insulin over 75 years ago by Banting and Best (Gordon, sec. 1). Their practice of "injecting the filthy juices of dogs and pigs into children" was ridiculed and opposed in the past, but fortunately science prevailed and insulin saved thousands of children from death. We should all be grateful that voices like the present arguments against xenotransplantation debates were not heard when animal insulin, blood transfusions, organ transplants, or any number of other medical advances were introduced. If they had been, many of us would not be alive for this debate.
Works Cited
Elshtain, Jean Bethke. "Why Worry about the Animals." Science and Technology Today Readings for Writers. Ed.
The autobiography, Survival in Auschwitz was written by an Italian resistance member named Primo Levi. In the novel, Levi accounts on his incarceration in the Auschwitz Holocaust concentration camp from February 1944 to January 27, 1945. Levi was born in July 1919 in Turin, Italy. Sixty seven years later, he died in the same city, Turin in Italy. He was an intelligent and intellectual man with a passion for writing and chemistry. Primo’s most famous writing piece was actually the book, Survival in Auschwitz. Originally titled, If this Is a Man, Survival in Aushwitz was first officially published in 1947, two years after his release from Auschwitz.
What was Levis Moral adaptation during his experience In Auschwitz? In ¨Survival in Auschwitz¨ Levi shows that in order to keep one's mental sanity. One has to focus on small distractions and never hope or show any desire. Showing any desire or hope would result as a mental death sentence in the lager, because no desire would be fulfilled. Therefore hoping for food in Auschwitz would lead to mental torture. So to survive one has to set unrealistic goals for example surviving until winter. “ Even in this place one can survive, and therefore one must want to survive, to tell the story, to bear witness; we must force ourselves to save at least a
Many ailments can be cured or at least ameliorated by the replacement of an organ and the progression of medical science has increasingly allowed more types of organs to be successfully transplanted. Doctors’ ability to transplant is thwarted, however, by the disproportionate number of patients in need of such life-saving treatment relative to the number of donor organs available. Due to a variety of circumstances there just aren’t enough spare organs to go around. In light of this situation and the ever increasing number of people who die every year while waiting for an organ donor, xenotransplantation has become a very attractive alternative to human transplants, for obvious reasons. While there may be a shortage of human organ donors, we can easily envision animals being bred for their organs and providing an almost unlimited supply.
"You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes, you just might find, you get what you need." This song lyric sang by the "show choir" featured in Glee represents a theme that is carried throughout the shows storyline. The theme is one that can be applied to the idea of social tolerance and acceptance. A high school atmosphere is often wrought with prejudice and stereotyping, which results in many kids never even having the chance to fit in. The wide range of kids that the glee club composes of are not always socially accepted, but the club provides a way for them to come together and to highlight their positive, and often unappreciated qualities.
...lyzes man’s internal and external issues which conveys mankind’s human condition. Survival in Auschwitz conclusively depicts how mankind reacts to the deepest and most torturous oppression within our past. He proves undoubtedly that the majority of man will fall to corruption or fail completely and give up hope altogether in the struggle for survival. His rather alluring account on how to truly survive in the camp and “documentation...of certain aspects of the human mind” relay the process of their dehumanization (Survival 9). Levi ultimately deems man’s reaction to oppression and the backlash of their means.
Primo Levi tells the readers the explicit details of the concentration camp Auschwitz, in his memoir, “Survival in Auschwitz.” The way in which the author talks about the camp is as if it is its own society. There is a very different and very specific way of life at the camp; their basic needs are provided for them, but only in the simplest form in order to have a small chance of survival. There is no clean, drinkable water, so instead they drink coffee, they eat soup twice a day, and a small amount of bread (26). There are thousands of diverse people living in the camp, who are forced to live with each other and work in a factory, reducing their self-worth to merely factors of production. The author illustrates the only purpose for the Jews is work; “This camp is a work-camp, in German one says Arbeitslager; all the prisoners, there are about ten thousand, work in a factory which produces a type of rubber called Buna, so th...
As I have progressed through this class, my already strong interest in animal ethics has grown substantially. The animal narratives that we have read for this course and their discussion have prompted me to think more deeply about mankind’s treatment of our fellow animals, including how my actions impact Earth’s countless other creatures. It is all too easy to separate one’s ethical perspective and personal philosophy from one’s actions, and so after coming to the conclusion that meat was not something that was worth killing for to me, I became a vegetarian. The trigger for this change (one that I had attempted before, I might add) was in the many stories of animal narratives and their inseparable discussion of the morality in how we treat animals. I will discuss the messages and lessons that the readings have presented on animal ethics, particularly in The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Dead Body and the Living Brain, Rachel in Love, My Friend the Pig, and It Was a Different Day When They Killed the Pig. These stories are particularly relevant to the topic of animal ethics and what constitutes moral treatment of animals, each carrying important lessons on different facets the vast subject of animal ethics.
Ethical issues also play a role in the selection of the solutions. Most patients perceive xenotransplantation as an acceptable alternative to transplantation of human organs in life-threatening situations provided the potential benefits outweigh any likely adverse effects on the animals. Xenotransplantation of organs from chimpanzees and baboons has been avoided, because of ethical concerns as chimpanzees are listed as endangered species and the fear of transmission of deadly viruses. Pigs are plentiful, quick to mature, breed well in captivity, have large litters, and have vital organs roughly comparable in size to those of humans. Further there are physiologic similarities between their antibodies to human antibodies, and also since they are already being used in the consumer market, organs have been mainly harvested from pigs. Humans have had prolonged and close contact with pigs, their use for the purpose of xenotransplantation is believed to be less likely to introduce any new infectious agents. Porcine islet cells of Langerhans have been injected into patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Porcine skin has been grafted onto burn patients, and pig neuronal cells have been transplanted into patients with Parkinson’s disease and Huntington’s disease.
Though it isn’t an immediate fix, “advances in bioengineering may eventually shrink the organ gap, allowing surgeons to transplant organs engineered from a patient’s own stem cells. But for complex organs such as lungs and kidneys, that goal is probably decades away” (Mantel 337). Stem cell research is a growing industry many have become involved in, and the rates at which people could be saved is amazing. However, it takes time to get to those results, so in the meantime bioengineers have been looking into and experimenting with xenotransplantation; otherwise known as the transplantation of animal organs into humans. Many find this inhumane and animal abuse, but many argue that wouldn’t having children for their “spare parts” be considered inhumane also? The use of animal organs or parts of animal organs seems to be a considerably reliable alternative to doing things illegally. Darian Corner, a student of Sam Houston State University told me her opinions on the use of animal organs in humans and this is what she had to say: “I believe it is a great idea! My niece Ashtyn has a heart defect and two complete arteries and two incomplete arteries at the top of her heart, causing severe lack of blood flow throughout her body. The doctors used a cow vein in replace of a human artery in order to reconstruct it her heart to where she has three complete arteries supplying blood to her body. Her heart is now strong and fully functional, however as she grows she will have to go back in and have the vein exchanged for a larger one, but it saved her life and for that I am extremely thankful.” Its stories like this that makes it hard to believe that more people aren’t supportive of xenotransplantation. Though much more research needs to be done, stem cells, xenotransplantation, and living donors can
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be a successful track coach and coach your protégés to a successful season? Through job shadowing, personal experience, and research, I have found out just how much hard work goes into coaching.
Serruys P. W, Gershlick A. H (2005)’ Handbook of drug-eluting stents’ Taylor and francis group: Oxonia
...ends and family, such as allowing for virtual “family albums” to exist that could be easily updated from anywhere by anyone that’s invited.
“Transplanting animal organs into humans is feasible.” USA Today. November 1999: 54-55. Gehlsen, Gale M., Ganion, Larry R. and Robert Helfst.
Humans have always loved to mix and combine things weather it is for looks, tastes, and stories. These combinations have always been seen as an improvement until recently. Medical breakthroughs in the cloning industry have been raising more ethical questions than when it initially started. The main issue was playing God. The new issue now is where we draw the line. As of 2003 the first human-animal embryo was created in China at the Shanghai Second Medical University. The creation was a human-rabbit embryo. However the embryo was destroyed before stem cells and research could be collected and studied.
"Xenotransplantation – Ethical Considerations Based on Human and Societal Perspectives." Acta Veterinaria Scandinavica. March 31, 2004. http://www.actavetscand.com/content/45/S1/S65.