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January 4, 2002
Cautionary comments on using pig organs to patch up humans
The announcements by two research teams--that they had succeeded in cloning pigs lacking one of the two genes that elicit the strongest rejection response from the human body--were countered by warnings from other scientists who question the wisdom of cross-species transplants.

All pigs harbor porcine endogenous retroviruses (PERVS) that have evolved with the species over millennia.  They are part of all pig tissues.  They are obviously harmless to pigs, but nobody knows what might happen when they are given access to the  human body.  They could turn out to be just as harmless to humans or they could multiply out of control in their new environment.  They have the potential not only to destroy the human recipient but to start a new contagious human disease.  One has only to remember the World War I flu epidemic that killed more people (25 million) than the war. 

"This is a recipe for disaster," an AP article quoted Alix Fano of the Campaign for Responsible Transplantation.  "Pigs are a reservoir of
viruses and we have no idea what their organs would do if transferred to humans."

The same article went on to quote George J. Agich, chairman of bioethics at the Cleveland Clinic: "The ethical question is whether there is a risk to the general population from a procedure that would benefit a single individual.  But we have at our disposal scientific means to determine if that risk is reasonable. We should be extremely cautious.  We may be talking decades before we can roll out this technology."

Jonathan Allan of the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research pointed to HIV, the retrovirus most scientists consider to be the cause of AIDS.  "The science of xenotransplantation needs to go forward," he said, but cited the difficulty that some viruses can lie dormant in the human body for long periods "like a time bomb" that may or may not explode."

Dr. Randall S. Prather, a member of the University of Missouri team that has cloned the genetically altered piglets, expressed the opinion that the rejection problems have to be resolved first before the contagion problems can be addressed.

Dr. Michael W. Fox of the Humane Society of the United States found "the whole concept repugnant".

Proponents of transplanting organs from genetically manipulated pigs into humans point to the more than 5,700 people around the world who die while waiting for a human organ to become available. 

A safer, simpler and more immediate way to help these people would be to salvage more of the organs from people who die before they are embalmed or go to the crematorium. 

Other countries have made more organs available by salvaging organs from anyone who dies unless they or their families have registered an objection.

Long before pigs can be engineered with organs that are compatible for humans, and even longer before the danger of a new retroviral disease can be assessed, the demand for organ transplants could be reduced by teaching, persuading, cajoling people to lead healthier lives so that their own organs would remain healthy.


PRESS RELEASE
Campaign for Responsible Transplantation
October 31, 2001

Yesterday, the Campaign for Responsible Transplantation (CRT) - a coalition
of 90 public interest groups promoting a ban on xenotransplantation - filed
a lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in federal
district court under the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

CRT believes that xenotransplantation should be banned because of the risk
of transferring deadly animal viruses to humans, particularly in light of
the new bioterrorism threat which has frightend the public and strained our
public health system.

CRT's lawsuit charges that the NIH is unlawfully withholding information
about nominees to the Secretary's Advisory Committee on Xenotransplantation
(SACX) - the committee which shapes xenotransplantation policy in the United
States. The NIH claims that information about nominees is confidential
under FOIA. CRT disagrees.

"The SACX has the power to give the go-ahead for human experiments with
animal organs, cells and tissues, with the potential to unleash a new virus
on the human population," says Alix Fano, CRT's director. "In light of the
tremendous trust that must be placed on the individuals on this committee,
the public has a right to see how nominees to the committee were chosen, and
more importantly, who was not chosen, so the public can determine whether
the committee is balanced according to the Federal Advisory Committee Act,
and whether the selection process was biased," says Fano.

CRT believes that several members of the SACX are biased in favor of
xenotransplantation. The NIH, which oversees the SACX, has dispensed
millions of taxpayer dollars for xenotransplantation research. Moreover,
CRT believes that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which oversees
clinical xenotransplantation trials, has allowed dozens of such trials to
proceed with few, if any, safeguards for public health.
CRT has also filed a lawsuit against the FDA for its failure to release
information about side effects and deaths in clinical xenotransplant trials
under FOIA.

"There has been enough secrecy in government with respect to
xenotransplantation and gene therapy," says Fano. "The Freedom of
Information Act makes no provisions for secrecy or deceit. It was designed
to hold the government accountable the public. The government may not
want to cooperate, but we intend to use the law for its intended purpose,"
says Fano.
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