Xenotransplantation: a bioethical evaluation

J Med Ethics. 2006 Apr;32(4):205-8. doi: 10.1136/jme.2005.012914.

Abstract

Allograft shortage is a formidable obstacle in organ transplantation. Xenotransplantation, the interspecies transplantation of cells, tissues, and organs, or ex vivo interspecies exchange between cells, tissues, and organs is a frequently suggested alternative to this allograft shortage. As xenotransplantation steadily improves into a viable allotransplantation alternative, several bioethical considerations coalesce. Such considerations include the Helsinki declaration's guarantee of patients' rights to privacy; political red tape that may select for undermined socioeconomic groups as the first recipients of xenografts; industry incentives in xenotransplantation investments; conflicts of interest when a clinician supervises a patient as a research subject; the psychosocial impact of transplantation on the xenograft recipient, and the rights of animals. This review illuminates these issues through a conglomeration of expert opinion and relevant experimental studies.

Publication types

  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Animal Rights
  • Animals
  • Bioethical Issues*
  • Confidentiality
  • Conflict of Interest
  • Health Policy
  • Humans
  • Investments / economics
  • Motivation
  • Patient Rights
  • Psychology, Social
  • Socioeconomic Factors
  • Transplantation, Heterologous / economics
  • Transplantation, Heterologous / ethics*
  • Transplantation, Heterologous / psychology