Xenotransplantation is the transplantation of living cells, tissues and organs from one species to another. Implanted cells, tissues and organs are referred to as xenografts.

This concept has been a topic of interest since the 1600s, but has been unsuccessful due to the molecular incompatibilities between species. An immune response is activated by the presence of foreign cells, resulting in rejection of the xenograft.

With advances in gene modification techniques, xenotransplantation has become a promising possibility to address the global organ shortage.

The Organ Shortage Crisis

According to the US Department of Health & Human Services:

• A patient is added to the transplant list every 10 minutes
• As of March 2018, there are 115,050 patients in need of lifesaving organ transplants
• Only 78,058 of those patients qualify for the transplant waiting list maintained by the United Network for Organ Sharing (UNOS)
• In 2015, there were more than 122,000 patients on the UNOS transplant list, yet there were only 15,068 donors

Xenotransplantation has potential to treat many life threating illnesses including:

• End-stage organ failure
• Diabetes
• Parkinson’s disease
• Huntington’s disease
• Strokes

However, this potentially lifesaving technology is not without
substantial ethical controversy from a human and animal perspective.