Does xenotransplantation pose a risk to the community as a whole (that is, people other than patients)?
Yes. The greatest danger is from what are known as “porcine endogenous retroviruses” (PERVs). PERVs are retroviruses that are embedded in pig DNA and could be potentially transmitted to patients, and spread beyond just patients, following xenotransplantation, especially from solid organs. As described by the Australian Government’s National Health and Medical Research Council, PERVS are “…present in almost all strains of pigs and cannot be removed by raising pigs in sterile conditions. Although PERV is inactive, and therefore harmless in pigs, there are concerns that transplantation into humans may activate the virus, creating a new human disease that could spread to those close to the transplant recipient and eventually to the wider community. PERVs can infect human cells in the laboratory, suggesting that they could infect humans through xenotransplantation…” Worse, retroviruses do not always initially cause obvious signs of a disease. If a retrovirus were present in a xenotransp
