Wednesday 16 August 2017

Pigs might be our organ donors !

What I read 
According to the article"GM pigs take step to being organ donors"(2017). The scientist,Dr. Yang,successfully rid 37 pigs from viruses which hide in their DNA because they want to use it to transplant organs.There is still the shortage of organs so that the experiment on pigs is try hard to solve the problem. It is used to be the same way to create "Dolly sheep".If the xenotransplantation which is used to get organs from other species really works, then it has the potential to alleviate long waits for a transplant.There must be lots of people confused why they choose pig? Due to the fact that pig's organs are similar to humans' and they could bred quickly. However,removing the viruses is only half the challenge, even organs donated from other people can cause a strong immune reaction that leads to the transplant being rejected.
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My response 
I think it is really a big and andaudacious behavior to do the experiment because most people can't believe that we could use pig's liver,lung,heart,or something else to save our lives.If the challenge being overcome ,it might have some benefits to us,for example, we could immediately transplant the organs and it brings the hope to the patient,second,the surgery fee might  much cheaper because the way we could get pig's organs is easily.Nevertheless,I think drawbacks are even more serious than benefits.The pig's organ might not really fit our body which results in the rejection of the immune system.The most important is the ethical problem,if we can use this technology,I think is immoral to utlize pigs to rescue ourselves since pigs are still a race,we can't overuse them in order to prolong our life.

However,by the means of genetic technology,the pigs become the suitable donors.Indeed, it is a critical progress,and it also promote the status of pigs.After all, combined with some attributes of human ,they will get strengthened.And maybe one day, we could develop an animal which are personalized to satisfy our demanding and even to create a baby for your seriously illness children to offer the organs.It is really changed our definition to human.
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My question for readers 
Do you think it is ethical to transplant pig's organs to human's body? If the experiment being succeeded someday, do you support it, why or why not?
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Reference
  • Gallagher, S. (2017). GM pigs take step to being organ donors. BBC News. Retrieved from http://www.bbc.com/news/health-40886600

13 comments:

  1. It's really strange for us to use animal's organ to substitute our medication. In the day that scientists agree to use this method, they must be sure that it's safe and not dirty to create any more illness for patients. However, it's also many ones who disagree.

    So if we talk about "ethic", of course, I would say it's wrong as the "Steven Law" says. I wouldn't support this idea but, who knows, if we really lack medication and this is the last choice, do we choose to kill animals in order to survive us or let us die and not kill them. I wouldn't answer this, but I says that it's immoral.

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  2. This reminded me of laboratory mouse. I can not recognized when, but the scientist test was transplant some human ear on its back with hope to repair. Whereas, pig organs I totally agree with you that's impossible in real life with totally different gene.

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    1. I also remember seeing that a few years ago. I was pretty amazing. It is amazing what modern science can do to make human lives more comfortable.
      Actually, I think that modern science is also the best hope for our planet. I remember when I first arrived in Bangkok, the pollution from traffic was much worse than it is today, and the improvement is because our technology is getting better.

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    2. I had also previously read Celia's chosen article on the BBC Newsand considered blogging it myself. I'm glad Celia chose it and did the job for me.

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    3. I'm really glad to hear that " the pollution from traffic was much worse than it is today, and the improvement is because our technology is getting better." Unfortunately, I didn't notice any improvement here, maybe because I never care about this and never notice.

      But one issue I'm pretty sure that it's never improved or solved is our "global warming." I really remembered that when I was young, the weather isn't too hot like this. And this isn't only in Thailand, it's all the world's responsibility.

      And another concerning issue, this is in Thailand, anywhere else I don't know, is very very bad traffic. This really drive me mad every morning. Even on the expressway, if you ever taste this feeling, turtle is overtaking me! It's really worrisome here. How to solve this I don't know, it's maybe involved with political(I don't know).

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    4. I totally agree the bad traffic in Thailand.I know the feeling of getting traffic jam because when I go to the AUA center every morning,especially on Monday, I always get stuck in traffic which is really annoy me.

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  3. I hope that the rejection problem is overcome so that pigs can soon provide us with healthy replacement organs. I was surprised, but in a good way, by Celia's use of Law's idea. I think it's OK to kill animals to eat their meat, and I'm pretty sure it's even more OK to save lives with their organs. Of course, there are some moral constraints to consider, but I don't think killing animals is that big a problem - I disagree with Law on that.

    Even if there were still risks in getting a pigs heart, liver or whatever, I think most people, myself included, would take that risk rather than certain death soon from organ failure. But while I'm glad you have started to think about the moral implications, I am surprised that everyone seems to agree with Law: he must have done a good job of persuading you that the Buddha is right when he says in the First Precept that we should "abstain from killing."

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    1. Actually, I think it is good for us to have new transplant donors.But, there are thousands of (even a great number) patients waiting for the substituted organs if people are all count on pigs to offer them organs to sustain their lives,it will become the issue which we really concern.
      In fact, by means of using the technology, I think we can use them but not overuse them is much better!

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  4. I think that it is a good idea to use organs from animals to cure human. If the experiment is success, it can help million of people who need new organs. However, even scientists can delete all the virus in their DNA, others DNA code might not suit with human. It will make many people scare of using these organs.

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    1. Maybe we delete all virus in pig's DNA but who knows maybe there is other cells may lead to other side effect and I think if there is a opportunity for me to transplant pig's organs, I not sure I would accept it because it is a little strange to have pig's or other animals' organs in my body.

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  5. Taking organs from pigs to cure human makes me feel the same way of killing pigs for food. I have eat pork for all my life, so this won’t make me feel guilty.
    In my opinion, if the scientist can really make this happen, it will bring us a lot of hope to cure people’s life. The demand of organ donation is high. There are many patients queue up with hope to get donated organ, and some of them cannot live their life long enough to get it. So I really hope it would be success soon.

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    1. Your reply causes me change my mind. My reply up there says I think it's morally wrong. While you remind me that I also eat pork. However, I hope the way they kill these poor pigs wouldn't cause them suffering, even killing for our meals or medications.

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  6. So, why not? A lot of people right now are waiting for chance to live. They are really need donor organs, and usually some of this people can't wait. But the problem now is the lack of donors. If a pig can give life to a person, then why not? And I agree with Pa: "Taking organs from pigs to cure human makes me feel the same way of killing pigs for food". I hope that it will come true, and we can help people.

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