Xenotransplantation: The Cutting-Edge Frontier in Biomedical Science.
In the past two years, xenotransplantation has reached significant milestones, including the transplantation of genetically modified pig hearts and kidneys into brain-dead patients. Despite numerous groundbreaking achievements, xenotransplantation has a long history filled with notable experiments, according to IFL Science.
Xenotransplantation has achieved numerous significant milestones in recent years. (Photo: AAMC)
Some of the earliest xenotransplantation efforts began in the 17th century with the research of French physician Jean-Baptiste Denys, a pioneer in blood transfusion. In his first attempt at blood transfusion, Denys injected sheep blood into a 15-year-old boy suffering from chronic fever. According to Denys’ account, the boy unexpectedly recovered and quickly regained his alertness and joy. However, the long-term recovery of the boy remains a mystery. Not all experiments were successful, and xenotransfusion was banned in France around 1670 following the death of one of Denys’ patients.
Centuries later, scientists began to experiment with tissue and organ transplants between species, not just blood. A pioneer in the field of xenotransplantation was Russian scientist Serge Voronoff, who worked in Paris in the early 20th century. He transplanted chimpanzee testicle tissue into older men experiencing a loss of vitality. Voronoff conducted a significant number of such surgeries and made a considerable fortune.
One of Voronoff’s patients was Australian pharmacist Dr. Henry Leighton-Jones. He underwent a primate testicle transplant in Paris in 1929. Satisfied with the results, Leighton-Jones returned to Australia and continued Voronoff’s work with similar surgeries.
In the 1960s, the idea of using primates as organ donors attracted the interest of Dr. Keith Reemtsma, an American scientist working at Tulane University in Louisiana. While kidney transplantation had developed at that time, the number of transplants was extremely limited due to a lack of available kidneys from deceased individuals. To address this issue, Reemtsma explored the use of kidneys from our closest relatives, chimpanzees. From 1963 to 1964, at least 13 patients received kidney transplants from chimpanzee organ sources.
Most of these transplants failed due to rejection phenomena, causing patients to die within 8 weeks. Some cases achieved limited success; one of Reemtsma’s patients lived for 9 months and even returned to teaching in good health. However, one day, the woman suddenly collapsed and died. The chimpanzee kidney appeared to be healthy and showed no signs of rejection, leading doctors to conclude that the patient died from acute electrolyte disturbances.
Researchers also repeatedly sought to transplant primate hearts into humans. One of the most famous cases was performed by Dr. Leonard Bailey. He transplanted a baboon heart into a young orphan girl nicknamed Baby Fae in 1984. The girl was born prematurely and suffered from hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a life-threatening defect requiring urgent surgery. With no available donor hearts from newborns, Bailey decided to go to the research lab in the hospital, anesthetize a baboon, and surgically remove its heart. He then returned and transplanted it into the girl’s chest.
Initially, Bailey’s approach seemed effective as the walnut-sized heart began to beat. However, Baby Fae passed away 20 days later due to rejection. The case gained widespread attention and sparked considerable controversy.
Even today, xenotransplantation remains a topic of concern within the community, with bioethicists contemplating many issues surrounding this type of surgery. However, the shortage of organ donors leads to hundreds of deaths each year. Although further research is necessary, xenotransplantation holds the potential to address this problem and save lives.
