30. Xenotransplantation

Date Source Title Summary Other Categories
06.2001 Nature Genetics Stem cell decision time The technology for stem cell research is no longer new; with the significant ethical concerns surrounding its future, the time has come to decide where the technology will go. 31. Stem Cells
05.28.2001 National Post Human Organs for Sale in Canada A reporter posed as a respondent to an ad for the sale of a kidney, thereby uncovering what looks to be the first time an illegal trade in human organs has been uncovered in Canada.  Willing donors typically are new migrants to Canada and in sufficient financial straits to be willing to undergo the operation.  Although all provinces have enacted legislation to prevent the trade, the penalties are light, and it has yet to be criminalized.
04.12.2001 BBC News Organs for operations deal The New England Medical Center, in Boston, is encouraging people to donate their kidneys to strangers by promising early operations for their relatives as a reward. The hospital is though to be the first to offer this sort of incentive to cut waiting lists. 4. Ethical and Social Concerns Arising out of Biotechnology,  38. Medical and Pharmaceutical Innovation 
02.2001 Nature Cell Biology Xenotransplantation: overview of key issues Book review of concerns regarding the practice of transplanting organs from other species into humans.
02.23.2001 BBC News Tissue transplant advance PPL Therapeutics, the scientists who helped clone Dolly the Sheep, say they have managed to turn cow skin into heart muscle in a move that could one day be used to create replacement tissues for transplant.
02.20.2001 BBC News Pig organ research 'must continue' Despite a British government report highlighting the potential dangers of pig organ transplants, researchers in the field still believe progress is being made and that research should continue to explore means to minimize the risks.
01.25.2001 Nature Public have right to see data from all gene trials, says FDA The US FDA last week put forward proposals to make clinical trials in gene therapy and xenotransplantation more transparent. The move drew support from some academic scientists, but criticism from the biotechnology industry. The issue is presented as one of transparency vs. privacy. 48. Privacy
01.2001 Nature Biotech EC study reveals an informed public A European Commission-funded study of Public Perceptions of Agricultural Biotechnology in Europe (PABE) will be published this month. It finds that the public's reaction to GMOs has been influenced by the misassumption—on the parts of not only regulatory authorities, scientists, and industry, but also non-governmental organizations (NGOs)—that the public needs to be educated, rather than consulted. Emphasis ought to be on the public's control over the trajectory of technology and not its mere knowledge. 4. Ethical and Social Concerns Arising out of Biotechnology, 29. Genetically Modified Food/Crops 
01.2001 Nature Biotech FDA withholds xeno data The Campaign for Responsible Transplantation filed a lawsuit late in November claiming FDA was withholding information on xeno research. The FDA claims that federal law prohibits the release of such information, but the CRT says that because some sponsors of xeno clinical trials are selectively releasing info through the press and public presentations, FDA is in effect waiving rights to confidentiality, particularly in cases involving adverse events.
12.07.2000 Nature Xenotransplantation opponents take FDA to court The Campaign for Responsible Transplantation, opponents of xenotransplantation research, have begun a lawsuit against the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), demanding that more information be made public about experiments in which humans receive transplants of animal tissue.
11.2000 Nature Biotech Three little pigs worth the huff and puff? An examination of the recent cloning achievements of the pigs. The efficiency of these processes are analysed as well as the potential applications of these developments with respect to xenotransplantation and producing pharmaceutical proteins. 33. Cloning
11.2000 Nature Biotech New xeno joint venture Novartis has announced plans to merge its xenotransplantation research with that of Boston, MA-based BioTransplant. BioTransplant has bred a herd of miniature swine that are relatively free of transmissible PERV. The company has also developed "tolerance induction"-a technique of teaching the body to recognize foreign antigens as its own.
10.2000 Nature Biotech PERV data renew xeno debate The article tries to undermine the research of the Scripps Institute that found cross-species transmission of PERV from pig cells to mice. It points out that the model and technology available cannot show a definitive infection of host tissue, and so the threat to human safety may not be as severe as originally anticipated with the report of Scripps finding.
10.2000 Nature Milking the Genome for Profit "Milking the genome for profit" points out the existing hurdles and inefficiencies in the production of transgenic animals, with a particular section dedicated to xeno applications, aptly titled "Transplants with a side of bacon". 
10.06.2000 Globe & Mail Setback for "human-pig" cloning bid The European Patent Office deemed as "contrary to morality" methods described by two firms in a cloning process in which they fused human and pig cells. As a consequence, the applicants did not pursue the application any further. Benefits of the technology are animal-to-human transplants. 10. Ethical and Social Concerns Arising out of Patents
10.06.2000 Nature Pigs, society and opacity The ethics and safety of xenotransplantation will be debated by experts, representatives of governments and international organizations at a three-day meeting in Paris this week, but the public and media will not be invited to participate. An opportunity for public participation in this controversial technology is criticized in this article as "a squandered [opportunity] by the organizers of the Paris meeting" and that international agencies need to learn the lessons of the past about ill-advised secrecy.
09.2000 Nature Biotech The Ultimate Piggybank A book review of Xeno: The Promise of Transplanting Animal Organs into Humans.
09.2000 Nature Xenotransplation: New risks, new gains
09.2000 Nature Biotech Cell source for spinal xenografts Here Imaizumi et al. demonstrate the feasibility of using transgenic pigs to obtain large quantities of cells engineered to be more immunologically compatible, as a source of cells to repair damaged spinal cords of rats. They also hope to mitigate the rejection in humans.
09.2000 Nature Biotech Porcine Xenotransplants - Will they fly? An overall examination of xenografting and its potential benefit and immunological difficulties. The article also discusses the discoveries by Imaizumi et al. in the same volume of Nature Biotech.
09.2000 Nature Biotech Xenotransplantation of transgenic pig olfactory ensheathing cells promotes axonal regeneration in rat spinal cord Here we describe transplantation of olfactory ensheathing cells (OECs) or Schwann cells derived from transgenic pigs expressing the human complement inhibitory protein, CD59 (hCD59), into transected dorsal column lesions of the spinal cord of the immunosuppressed rat to induce axonal regeneration.
08.2000 Nature Immunology Costimulatory blockade by the induction of an endogenous xenospecific antibody response A highly detailed and scientific report on xenotransplantation and immunology. The articles describes a strategy to inhibit costimulation that exploits species differences using the model of porcine pancreatic islet transplantation into mice. This strategy of inducing endogenous donor-specific costimulatory blockade has potential clinical applicability. 7. Issue based Scientific Analysis and Commentary
08.18.2000 NYTimes Cloned Pigs Seen as Advance Toward Human Replacement Organs A team led by Japanese and American researchers announced in the journal Science that a single piglet had been cloned. Separately, a Scottish company said it had cloned a litter of five pigs.