TY - JOUR T1 - Xenotransplantation: a bioethical evaluation JF - Journal of Medical Ethics JO - J Med Ethics SP - 205 LP - 208 DO - 10.1136/jme.2005.012914 VL - 32 IS - 4 AU - M Anderson Y1 - 2006/04/01 UR - http://jme.bmj.com/content/32/4/205.abstract N2 - 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. ER -