XENOTRANSPLANTATION ISSUES

[Rafael Maldonado]

On 24 Aug 1995, KMShannon wrote:
> 
> But, [now you get to hear my opinion,]
> I do not wish to believe that there are MD's out there who would actually
> put a baboons liver into Larry Hagman, or a Chimps heart into the child
> with heart disease.  That should be against the Hippocratic Oath or
> something...(I know,...the Hippocratic Oath does not mention anything
> about baboon transplants or using machines to instigate death...)
> Back to the point...there are many viri who, if they could think, would
> love this new science of cross-species interaction.  The little virion
> would be able to jump species and almost pick and choose its hosts.  
> And this is just one argument....what ever happened to ethics?

Ethics? What is wrong with ethics? Killing animals for saving humans? 
That is done every day for eating. Besides, insuline, serum, have been 
used from animals before. Where is the problem? Is ethic an artificial 
heart then?

> Also, some sociologists might tell you that there are too da*m many people
> on the Earth.  How about just letting some die off?  

THAT is against the Hippocratic Oath for sure. Why should we have doctors 
and medical science, if there is overpopulation?

> Rather than letting
> latent viri (viri in non-human populations) do it for us...  

That is a totally different problem. We should make sure that those 
animals are enough helthy and without any latent virus to crate a danger 
to mankind. But a "no" to those pactices only because the danger may 
exist is stupid. Similar arguments have been used against the blood 
transfussions. I would be stupid saying now, after the people who died 
of AIDS through transfusions., "I told you, transfussions are bad". What 
about the huge number of people saved by transfussions? I am sure that 
those virologist said "Caution", but not "Stop it now and forever".
 
> I sincerely hope that this messege finds peers of myself (future
> virologists) who agree and this xeno-cross-species-nonsense is just a
> passing fad on the wannabe cutting edge of medicine.

That will be told by the time and the medical science. 

	Rafa

___________________________________________________________________
                                             |
Rafael Maldonado                             |  La cita ha sido
room 6160 Eccles Institute of Human Genetics |  
Department of Human Genetics		     |  retirada por respeto
University of Utah			     |
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Rafael at howard.genetics.utah.edu	             |  intelectual.
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