Xenotransplantation in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology

Abstract

For nearly a century, xenotransplantation has been seen as a potential curative approach to replacing the function of diseased or damaged organs. Until recently, however, the application of xenotransplantation has seemed only a remote possibility. Genetic engineering of large animals has allowed the ability to add genes and remove genes from lines of animals, which could provide an enduring source of tissues and organs for clinical application. Genetic engineering could address the immunologic, physiologic, and infectious barriers to xenotransplantation, and could expand the utility of xenotransplantation to provide a source of cells with defined expression of exogenous genes for treatment of human disease.