Xenotransplantation, also called heterologous transplantation, is the transplantation of living cells, tissues or organs from one species into a recipient of a different species; the transplanted material is called a xenograft or xenotransplant. It is distinguished from allotransplantation, syngeneic or isotransplantation, and autotransplantation, which all move tissue within the same species, and it is considered an artificial method of creating a human-animal chimera, an individual carrying a subset of animal cells, distinct from a human-animal hybrid in which every cell carries genetic material from both species.
Facts
FAQs
Has xenotransplantation reached formal clinical trials in people?
Yes. A multicenter pig kidney trial announced its first transplant in November 2025.
Yes, for kidneys. On November 3, 2025, United Therapeutics Corporation announced the first clinical xenotransplantation within its EXPAND study, a multicenter trial of its UKidney, a gene-edited pig kidney. Earlier pig organ transplants in people were single patient cases under the FDA expanded access program.
Connections
Treats
Source Xenotransplantation (Wikipedia)
Source Xenotransplantation (Wikipedia)
Sources
1. Wikipedia
Wikipedia contributors, Wikimedia Foundation
2. Xenotransplantation (Wikipedia)
History section
The first serious attempts at xenotransplantation (then called heterotransplantation) appeared in the scientific literature in 1905, when slices of rabbit kidney were transplanted into a child with chronic kidney disease.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenotransplantation, lead section
Xenotransplantation (xenos- from the Greek meaning "foreign" or strange), or heterologous transplant, is the transplantation of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another.
Treats: Diabetes Mellitus, Article text, use for Diabetes Mellitus
Certain procedures, some of which are being investigated in early clinical trials, aim to use cells or tissues from other species to treat life-threatening and debilitating illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, liver failure and Parkinson's disease.
Treats: Parkinson's Disease, Article text, use for Parkinson's Disease
Certain procedures, some of which are being investigated in early clinical trials, aim to use cells or tissues from other species to treat life-threatening and debilitating illnesses such as cancer, diabetes, liver failure and Parkinson's disease.
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