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Time - Man of the Year
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Time_Man_of_the_Year_Compact_Publishing_3YX-Disc-1_Compact_Publishing_1993.iso
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1993-04-08
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THE WEEK, Page 21HEALTH & SCIENCEA Life for a Life
The first baboon-to-human liver transplant looks successful
so far
Protesters outside the University of Pittsburgh Medical
Center carried signs reading animals are not expendable. But for
the 35-year-old man recovering inside, the choice had been
between life and death. In an 11-hour operation, the unidentified
patient received a new liver to replace his own, ravaged by
hepatitis B. Since the virus would have also destroyed a
replacement human liver, doctors transplanted the organ from a
baboon.
It was hardly the first time a human had received an
animal transplant; kidneys and hearts have been shifted from
chimpanzees, baboons and monkeys into people for decades, though
never successfully. What may make the difference this time is
an experimental antirejection drug known as FK-506; doctors hope
it will keep the recipient's immune system from attacking the
new liver as a foreign object. Though the patient had symptoms
of a mild rejection reaction by week's end, it wasn't considered
serious. Otherwise, said a hospital spokeswoman, "he's doing
really well. It's almost scary."
If this works, it may lead to more widespread use of
animal organs. Dr. Thomas Starzl, who pioneered animal-human
transplants and supervised this operation, acknowledged the
concerns of animal-rights activists but said, "Our passion and
our commitment is to human beings."