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- The Council of Europe has voted for a
moratorium on clinical tests of animal organ transplants into human beings.
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- The decision will be a heavy blow to
researchers working on the technique, known as "xenotransplantation".
It also means the global shortage of human donor organs will have to be
solved some other way.
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- Millions of dollars have already been
poured into research on transplanting animal organs into humans.
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- Most researchers have focused on pigs,
which are highly compatible with humans - and by adding some human genes
to specially bred pigs, it reduces the risk that transplanted animal organs
will be rejected by their human recipients.
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- But researchers have run up against persistent
problems. These involve a number of viruses which - while harmless to pigs
- might pose serious health risks to humans, and possibly cause new human
diseases.
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- While not banning the idea of animal
organ transplants altogether, the council of Europe voted to ban clinical
tests on real patients in Europe - and wants to see that ban extended worldwide.
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- As a result, any trials of the transplants,
which might have gone ahead in Europe this year, have been indefinitely
postponed until more is known about the potential hazards.
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- Ethics questions
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- The council also expressed concern about
the ethics of animal organ transplants, both for humans, and for animal
welfare.
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- With an international shortage of human
organs for transplants, many people die while waiting in vain for an organ
- like a heart or a liver - that they desperately need.
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- But with the council's decision, animal
organs are not going to be the answer - at least in the short term.
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