Pigs: Useful for Something Other Than Bacon

1249 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Donor organ shortage issues

There are more then 3500 Canadians on a waiting list for an organ transplant. Of that 3500 more then 1500 of them die each year because they do not get the organ (www.kincanada.ca). There is such a high demand in organs that scientist around the globe have been trying to find a way that will help diminish the rate. Scientist from Britain, Korea, United States and other countries around the world been looking into using the organs from genetically modified pigs for human organ transplant. Can pigs be genetically modified so their organs will be accepted by the human body?

Modified pigs have to hide their origin from the human immune system (www.gate2biotech.com). Pig organs are roughly the same size as human organs and work roughly the same way. Lord Winston and his colleagues from Imperial College in London, have an idea that if the pig has 6 human genes that it will lower the chance that the organ will be rejected by the human body (www.naturalnews.com). The pig organs are coated with a sugar molecule, Alpha Galactose, that has a small reaction rate in humans. Human antibodies attach themselves to the sugar molecule and would quickly destroy the newly transplanted pig organ (www.nationalgeographics.com).

Making pig organs suitable for humans is a giant task; a task that needs a goal. Lei Xiao, of the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, who led their research explains that they modified pigs stem cells would be useful because the pigs organs are very similar to human organs. They would use the stem cells of an embryo and adjust the immune genes from the human to make the pig organ compatible to the human immune system. They would then provide the organs available to patients and the organs will not be rej...

... middle of paper ...

.... CNN World 23 Mar 2011 from cnnworld.tv http://www.cncworld.tv/news/v_show/13473_Pig_organs_for_humans_.shtml

“Selective Breeding”. Biology Online 15 Aug 2008. Retrieved 6 April 2011 from biologyonline.org http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Selective_Breeding

Trivedi, Bijal P. “Cloned Pigs modified for Use in Human Transplants”. National Geographic News 3 Jan 2002. Retrieved 6 April 2011 from nationalgeographic.com

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/01/0103_020103TVclonedpig.html

Wilcox, Sara “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in Xenotransplantation” Biology Teach 3 Apr 2003. Retrieved 6 April 2011 from bioteach,ubc.ca http://www.bioteach.ubc.ca/Journal/V01I01/4952xenotransplant.pdf

“Xenotransplantaion”. Heath Canada 17 Jan 2007. Retrieved 6 April 200 from hc-sg.gc.ca http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/sr-sr/biotech/about-apropos/xeno-eng.php

Show More
Related

  • Federal Funds Should Be Used for Embryonic Stem Cell Research

    1400 Words  | 3 Pages

    “What are the potential uses of human stem cells and the obstacles that must be overcome before these potential uses will be realized?” . InStem Cell Information. Bethesda, MD: National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009.

    Read More

  • Attention Getter Of Organ Transplants

    643 Words  | 2 Pages

    Thesis: I will explain the history of organ transplants, starting with ancient ideas before modern science until the 21st century.

    Read More

  • Xenotransplantation, Transgenics, and the Animal-human Boundary

    1855 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Government Should Fund Embryonic Stem Cell Research

    2402 Words  | 5 Pages

    Stem cell research began in 1956 when Dr. E Donnall Thomas performed the first bone marrow transplant (“Adult stem cells are not more promising,” 2007). Since that time, research has evolved into obtaining cells from a variety of tissues. According to stem cell research professors, Ariff Bongso and Eng Hin Lee (2005), “Stem cells are unspecialized cells in the human body that are capable of becoming cells, each with new specialized functions” (p. 2). Stem cells are in various adult tissues, such as bone marrow, the liver, the epidermis layer of skin, the central nervous system, and eyes. They are also in other sources, such as fetuses, umbilical cords, placentas, embryos, and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), which are cells from adult tissues that have been reprogrammed to pluripotency. Most stem cells offer multipotent cells, which are sparse...

    Read More

  • Self-Analysis Essay of a Writer

    1134 Words  | 3 Pages

    Shaw, Myles. “Animal Cloning—How Unethical Is It?- Draft 1.” UTSA: WRC 1023, 3 Mar 2014. Print.

    Read More

  • Oryx And Crake Character Analysis

    1619 Words  | 4 Pages

    Before Crake had even created the Crakers, the ‘perfect’ human, the world was filled with genetically modified items. One popular creation of the story, the pigoon, was a pig that was genetically modified to have multiple organs that can be used for transplants. Which happens to be something that scientists are working on right now. In the story, the pigoons evolve, from a mind of a pig, to a pig with a functioning human brain.

    Read More

  • Cloning - It’s Time for Organ Farms

    1444 Words  | 3 Pages

    Currently 70,000 Americans are on the organ waiting list and fewer than 20,000 of these people can hope to have their lives saved by human organ transplantation.1  As a result of this shortage, there has been a tremendous demand for research in alternative methods of organ transplantation.  Private companies are racing to develop these technologies with an estimated market of six billion dollars.2  Xenotransplantation, or cross-species organ transplantation, appears to be the most likely solution in the near future, and cloned pigs are the main candidates.  Pigs and humans have remarkable similarities in physiology, which along with cloning makes pigs strong possibilities for organ donors.  A controversial alternative method involves the use of genetically altered headless human beings as organ donors.  Although this method may not be developed for some years, scientists are already discussing the necessary technologies.  Whether the solution is the cloning of a pig or a human, organ farms may provide us with a solution to our ever-increasing need for donors.

    Read More

  • Pig Dissection Lab

    225 Words  | 1 Pages

    Pigs are complex creatures with an interior structure that is similar to the human body. The purpose of the pig dissection was to recognize the numerous organs and organ structures in the pig's body in comparison to the human body. In spite of the fact that the pig fetus was bigger than what was normal, the lab went well and all the important parts of the pig were present. Yet the discoloration of the organs was unbalanced from what was expected. The whole pig was one beige shading with what looked like blue bruises. This could be due to the measure of time the pig was preserved for. Additionally, the heart was observed to be smaller than expected. It was covered by the lungs and was appeared to be compact because of the steady pumping of blood.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Organ Replacement

    296 Words  | 1 Pages

    The quantity of organs available for transplantation is already far less than the demand, and the demand may grow substantially in close to future. For this reason, we have to think how organ function might be replaced in the future. The obstacles to applying new technologies and now those obstacles might be overcome in the developing of new approach for organ replacement. the obstacles of organ replacement might be addressed if various technologies could be pieced together in a way that exploits the advantages of each technology. Thus, nuclear cloning (the transfer of a nuclei from somatic cells of the individual to be treated into primitive enucleated cells (SCNT), allowing the reprogramming of DNA) could be used to generate embryonic stem

    Read More

  • Animal Research and Testing, Is it Ethical?

    2169 Words  | 5 Pages

    “Transplanting animal organs into humans is feasible.” USA Today. November 1999: 54-55. Gehlsen, Gale M., Ganion, Larry R. and Robert Helfst.

    Read More

  • Human Cloning

    1801 Words  | 4 Pages

    John A. Robertson, “Human Cloning and the Challenge of Regulation,” The New England Journal of Medicine, vol. 339, no. 2 (July 9, 1998), pp. 119-122.

    Read More

  • Artificial Organs: The Future Of The Future

    1273 Words  | 3 Pages

    Human beings continuously changing in order to adapt to the situations that surround us so that we may create a better environment and life for our future generations. What makes this case any different? When looking at all the potential these artificial organs present, we must also consider some possible negatives and what issues may arise by researching and implementing them. The most obvious and well-known issue is potentially the main issue with regard to artificial organs. The main method of producing the organs is through the use of stem cells, which due to ethical reasons has been highly cont...

    Read More

  • Human-Animal Hybrid Experiments

    1767 Words  | 4 Pages

    The current issue facing societies around the world is human-animal hybrids experiments. These experiments are viewed in two lights, positive and negative. The positive of having these tests are that scientists could rid the world of diseases. However on the other hand people see these studies as inhumane and detrimental to everyone’s well being. This paper will be broken down into 6 areas including (1) a brief history of hybrid experiments dating within the decade, (2) a view of the stakeholders in the issue at hand, (3) how people would interact with humans receiving these treatments, (4) cultural and ethical considerations, (5) problems still at hand, and (6) a conclusion.

    Read More

  • It Isn T Good To Make Animals Grow Human Organs

    322 Words  | 1 Pages

    Why should we use these innocent pigs to grow human organs. if 100,000 people are waiting for an organ, humans will go and use up 100,000 pigs and grow organs inside them. This idea of having that many pigs cut open, that is absolutely unethical. An animal should not go through a surgery just to help out a human. In many religions pigs are known to be unclean and sanitary. Also the recent H1N1 flu was transmitted by pigs, and if there was another

    Read More

  • Human Regneration: The Process Of Regeneration In Humans

    1870 Words  | 4 Pages

    Researchers in this field are seek to know how stem cells can be used to develop into specialized cells or tissue, which aims restore lost function in damaged organs or even grow new fully functioning organs for transplant.

    Read More

More about Pigs: Useful for Something Other Than Bacon

Open Document