Animal organs in humans: xenotransplantation at the heart of tomorrow's scientific and ethical concerns.
Xenotransplantation, derived from the ancient Greek "xenos" meaning "foreigner" as well as "host", involves transplanting an organ from a donor whose biological species is different from that of the recipient. Human beings have a long tradition of breaking down interspecies barriers to find the organs they need. Accounts of human-animal experimentation have often been accompanied by doubts and disappointments.
After a period of stagnation in this field, faced with major biological barriers, the evolution of knowledge, treatments and genetic tools has enabled us to establish new strategies in the field. It was the revolution in genome-editing techniques that gave new impetus to the field of xenotransplantation.
The last decade has seen an acceleration in animal experimentation, with significant progress leading to the possibility of testing on humans. To date, very few xenotransplants have been performed in humans, but they have shown that major medical obstacles have been overcome.
In theory, xenotransplantation offers an interesting potential solution to the shortage of organs for the treatment of many serious diseases, and is becoming a global public health issue. But this therapy, which would abolish certain inter-species borders, still faces numerous biological obstacles. Beyond the scientific aspect, like all advances in research, xenotransplantation also comes up against a multitude of economic, ethical and societal issues.
This strategic health watch, presented by the Research, Europe, International and Watch Unit of the Agence de la biomédecine's Medical and Scientific Department, is designed to highlight the latest advances and ethical issues in biomedicine.