xenotransplantation

Transplants save thousands of lives every year, but there are not enough human organs donated for everybody who needs them. The shortage has led to attempts to develop animal organs that can be transplanted into humans.

This report investigates the complex ethical and safety issues involved in xenotransplantation.

Xenotransplantation - External consultation

A public consultation was launched in April 1995 as part of the inquiry. Over eighty responses were received from a wide range of individuals and organisations including:

Universities and research institutes
Research councils and learned societies
Religious organisations
Animal interest groups
Commercial interest groups
Individuals
Sixth-form students

Xenotransplantation - Terms of reference

1. To review recent and prospective advances in xenografts and the current and prospective applications of such procedures. For these purposes xenografts are defined as the transplantation of animal cells, tissues or organs into human beings.

2. To identify and consider the ethical issues arising from current and prospective uses of xenografts, including in particular:

Xenotransplantation - Key findings

At the time of this report, attempts were being made to develop animal organs that can be transplanted into humans. Both pigs and, in the US, baboons were being developed for transplantation. This report considered the ethical concerns raised by such developments.

Xenotransplantation - Chapter downloads

You can download the individual chapters of this report using the links below. (All files are PDFs and less than 200 KB)

Chapter 1 - The promise and the problems

Chapter 2 - Alternatives to xenotransplantation

Council publishes report on animal-to-human transplants

The Council has published a report entitled 'Animal-to-human transplants: the ethics of xenotransplantation' addressing the complex ethical and safety issue, such as:

is it ethical to use animals to provide ‘spare parts’ for humans?
is it ethical to produce genetically modified pigs containing human genes?
how can any animal suffering be minimised?
will animal diseases be passed onto human beings?