Xenotransplantation and moral theology

Abstract

Xenografting (xg), or xenotransplantation (xt), may be defined as the transplantation of cells, tissues or organs from one organism into another of a different species. In practice, however, discussions on the topic tend to be more specific than this and focus on the transplantation of animal (usually pig) cells, tissues or organs into humans. Although xenograft technology is still under development and far from being perfect - particularly in the case of organ transplantation -, expectations of its success run high, with the technology being seen as a possible solution to the shortage of human organs for allotransplantation (i.e. within species transplantation).