What are the risks of xenotransplantation to the recipient?
Undergoing animal-to-human transplantation often involves surgery. Surgery is an invasive procedure and should never be perceived as an easy and risk free process. Complications may occur from the anaesthetic and risks of bleeding, infections and cardiac or breathing complications are possible. The most significant risk to the recipient of a transplant is rejection due to the patient’s immune response. In human-to-human transplantation (allotransplantation), rejection has been largely overcome by tissue matching of donors and recipients, and by giving the recipient medicines that suppress their immune system. The risk of rejection in animal-to-human transplantation is more complicated because the differences between the donor and the recipient are much greater. Two promising approaches have been developed. One is to modify the genetic makeup of the donor animals so that the cells and tissues do not trigger such a strong immune response from the human body. Scientists have already produ
