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