Xenotransplantation could have an impact on at least three aspects of medicine. The first is as a means of overcoming a severe shortage of human donor organs for the treatment of organ failure. The second aspect relates to the possibility that a xenogeneic organ would not be susceptible to infection by a "human" virus and thus the xenograft might resist injury caused by such viruses. The third and, as of yet, unexplored aspect relates to a means of delivering genes for therapeutic purposes thus overcoming some of the limitations of "conventional" gene therapy.
Xenotransplantation could have an impact on at least three aspects of medicine.
The first is as a means of overcoming a severe shortage of human donor
organs for the treatment of organ failure. The second aspect relates to
the possibility that a xenogeneic organ would not be susceptible to infection
by a "human" virus and thus the xenograft might resist injury caused by
such viruses. The third and, as of yet, unexplored aspect relates to a
means of delivering genes for therapeutic purposes thus overcoming some
of the limitations of "conventional" gene therapy.
