COMPANIES developing animal organs for transplanting into patients this week
dismissed as groundless reports of new hazards associated with
xenotransplantation. The press reports followed an article in the newspaper
Scotland on Sunday saying the Roslin Institute near Edinburgh, creator of
Dolly the sheep, is abandoning xenotransplantation because of worries that pig
viruses could spread to humans.
Roslin denies new safety issues have arisen. 鈥淲e鈥檝e not found any new
problems鈥攖hey鈥檙e the same as they鈥檝e always been,鈥� says Grahame Bulfield,
director of the institute. He says Roslin鈥檚 shift away from xenotransplants is
purely commercial, allowing it to focus on ways of cloning new tissues.
Imutran in Cambridge has found no safety problems involving viruses in 160
patients who鈥檇 received pig tissue
(New 杏吧原创, 28 August 1999, p 20).
The company is pressing on undaunted. 鈥淲e鈥檙e not going to change our
approach because of Roslin dropping out,鈥� says a spokeswoman.
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