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What is the term for the transplantation of animal organs into human recipients?

User Workabyte
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Final answer:

The transplantation of animal organs to human recipients is called a xenograft. It involves genetic modification of donor animals to reduce immune rejection. The breadth of transplantation also includes autografts, allografts, and isografts, with ongoing developments in in vitro organ growth from an individual's cells to prevent rejection.

Step-by-step explanation:

The term for the transplantation of animal organs into human recipients is known as xenograft. Advances in this area include genetically modifying donor animals, like pigs, to produce organs less likely to cause an immune response in humans. This could involve removing specific genes responsible for rejection reactions from the pig embryo, although challenges like excising these genes correctly and managing risks of embedded viral sequences remain. The use of xenografts is part of a broader field of organ transplantation, which has a range of other practices as well. These include autografts, allografts, and isografts, depending on the source of the tissue being transplanted. Since transplant rejection involves the recipient's immune system attacking the donor tissue as foreign, ongoing research is exploring ways to grow organs in vitro from an individual's cells, which would not be rejected when transplanted.

User Simon Trewhella
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