Is xenotransplantation the only solution to the shortage of organs for transplantation?
Transplant specialists are trying to boost the supply of people prepared to donate organs after their death by encouraging them to carry donor cards or join donor registers. In Spain, the supply of organs and the number of transplants carried out each year has increased dramatically since such a scheme was introduced. In the longer terms, advances in cloning and other technologies may make it possible to grow human cells and even whole organs in the laboratory. But it is likely to be many years before this become a reality. Xenotransplantation could help provide a solution to the current worldwide shortage of organs for transplantation much sooner than human cloning research.
