PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Anderson, M
TI  - Xenotransplantation: a bioethical evaluation
AID  - 10.1136/jme.2005.012914
DP  - 2006 Apr 01
TA  - Journal of Medical Ethics
PG  - 205--208
VI  - 32
IP  - 4
4099  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/32/4/205.short
4100  - http://jme.bmj.com/content/32/4/205.full
SO  - J Med Ethics2006 Apr 01; 32
AB  - 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.