Chimeras in medicine— Part 1: Xenotransplantation – Health Report

Many people are currently waiting for an organ donation, and some of those waiting may die before a suitable organ is found. However some researchers think that we will be able to grow organs in animals to be then safely transplanted into humans.

This healthcare potential raises ethical questions and bioethicists want us to assess where we stand on such technological change. This is the first of two features about medicine’s use of animals for human tissue and organ transplantation.

Guests:

Mirna Taylor, patient

Dr Anthony Camuglia

Cardiologist, Wesley Hospital, Brisbane

Wayne Hawthorne

President, International Xenotransplantation Association

Researcher and Professor of Transplantation, Westmead Hospital and Sydney University

Assoc Prof Dominique Martin

Bioethics and Professionalism, Deakin University

Prof Jian Feng

Physiology and Biophysics, State University of New York, Buffalo

Prof Megan Munsie

Ethics, Education and Policy in Stem Cell Science, University of Melbourne

Host:

Carl Smith/Tegan Taylor

Producer:

Carl Smith