Genetically modified pigs to be used for
organ transplants would need to be reared in a very sterile,
bio-medical environment. Such treatment raises animal welfare
issues concerning these very intelligent animals. |
As potential organ sources, pigs have been the main focus of research.
The anatomy of a pig is amazingly like that of a person. They carry
fewer viruses than baboons and they are much easier to breed, producing
lots of piglets in each litter. Moral objections to using pigs are
also fewer because they are killed for food anyway. The hope
among researchers is that using the techniques of genetic engineering,
pigs may be modified so that they produce hearts, livers, kidneys
and other organs carrying neutral human antigens. This would mean
the new organs will not be recognised by the human recipient as
foreign tissue.
Genetically modified pigs grown in a sterile environment might
possibly provide a virtually unlimited supply of disease-free ‘human’
organs for transplants. The recipients would need little or no immunosuppressant
medication as the new organs would be recognised by their immune
system as ‘self’.
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