Xenotransplantation: Is it effective?
Xenotransplantation is any procedure that involves the transplantation, implantation or infusion into a human recipient of either live cells, tissues, or organs from a nonhuman animal source, or human body fluids, cells, tissues or organs that have had contact with live nonhuman animal cells, tissues or organs.
Observation: Our idea from this project came from a discussion in class about organ transplants and the lack of organ donations. We decided to further our research on this topic and we out found the following:
In the US, there are 116,000 men, women and children on the national organ waiting list as of August 2017. 20 people die every day waiting for transplants. Every 10 minutes another person is added to the waiting list. Only 3 in 1,000 people die in a way that allows organ transplantation.
Hypothesis: Due to the high demand of organ transplantation and the lack of organs, we wondered how many people actually carry donor cards. Since there is a lack of donors, and too many people waiting for organs, people have started to use Xenotransplantation. We wanted to know if people will be willing to accept an organ from an animal.
We plan to carry out our research by gathering information through surveys and questionnaires before and after we give a detailed explanation of what xenotransplantation is. We will inform them of any risks and the percentage of successful transplants. We will survey different people with different occupations such as teachers in our school or qualified nurses. We will then calculate statistics of whether or not local people would have a xenotransplantation.
Unfortunately, our project did not make it into the BT Young Scientist exhibition in the RDS, Dublin.
Xenotransplantation is any procedure that involves the transplantation, implantation or infusion into a human recipient of either live cells, tissues, or organs from a nonhuman animal source, or human body fluids, cells, tissues or organs that have had contact with live nonhuman animal cells, tissues or organs.
Observation: Our idea from this project came from a discussion in class about organ transplants and the lack of organ donations. We decided to further our research on this topic and we out found the following:
In the US, there are 116,000 men, women and children on the national organ waiting list as of August 2017. 20 people die every day waiting for transplants. Every 10 minutes another person is added to the waiting list. Only 3 in 1,000 people die in a way that allows organ transplantation.
Hypothesis: Due to the high demand of organ transplantation and the lack of organs, we wondered how many people actually carry donor cards. Since there is a lack of donors, and too many people waiting for organs, people have started to use Xenotransplantation. We wanted to know if people will be willing to accept an organ from an animal.
- How many people in Ireland carry donor cards?
- How many people have had a xenotransplant in Ireland?
- Can every organ from an animal be used?
- What are the risks of getting a disease from an animal’s organ?
- Are there any long term side-affects?
- What are the chances of your body rejecting the organ?
- When and where did the first xenotransplant take place?
We plan to carry out our research by gathering information through surveys and questionnaires before and after we give a detailed explanation of what xenotransplantation is. We will inform them of any risks and the percentage of successful transplants. We will survey different people with different occupations such as teachers in our school or qualified nurses. We will then calculate statistics of whether or not local people would have a xenotransplantation.
Unfortunately, our project did not make it into the BT Young Scientist exhibition in the RDS, Dublin.