Xenotransplantation and the future of human organ transplants

A shortage of organ donors has been an issue since the inception of human organ transplantation. Despite attempts to increase the number of donated organs, the demand for transplants now far exceeds the number of organs available for transplantation. This continuing deficit has questioned whether current sources of organs for human transplantation are currently still viable and importantly for the predicated future increases in demand. Improvements with transplantation over the past few decades has resulted is organ transplants being associated with high survival rates and quality of life making transplantation the optimal solution to chronic organ dysfunction, increasing the demand for transplants. This study investigated organ transplantation in the United Kingdom (UK), United States of America (US) and Eurotransplant (representing Austria, Belgium, Croatia, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Slovenia and from 2012 Hungary) to look for widespread trends in organ transplantation. Analyses of data from the sources shows clear deficits in the number of organ donations compared to the increasing demand for transplants. In all cases studied, less than a third of patients received their required transplant each year. The large difference between donation and transplantation suggests that a new source of organs for human transplants is required, with xenotransplantation (transplanting organs, tissues, or cells between different species) offering a more immediate and extensive solution to this problem compared to current alternatives.