Animal-Human transplants frozen

September 21, 2004

Australia's peak research body has imposed a five-year ban on research into animal-to-human transplants after deciding the health risks were too great.

The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) has spent the past two years examining whether ethical guidelines for xenotransplantation were necessary, a major precursor to further research.

The use of animal organs has become a pressing issue over recent years because of the big gap between the number of available human donors and the demand for organs.

At a meeting in Perth last week, the council decided on a five-year moratorium on any clinical research into animal-to-human organ transplants in Australia.

NHMRC chairman Alan Pettigrew said the council believed there was not enough known about the health risks.

"There were ethical concerns, there were social concerns, but the major area (of concern) were the risks," he said.

"There were risks to health, not only of the individual but to their immediate family and from there to the wider population."

Professor Pettigrew said the current body of knowledge on the risks was too limited to allow the research to go ahead.

"There's still a lot of work that needs to be undertaken," he said.

"We need at least five years to gain more knowledge before this issue should be considered again."

Since releasing draft guidelines in July 2002, an NHMRC working party has travelled the country seeking community input into the controversial issue.

The draft guidelines recommended researchers be allowed to transplant parts from genetically modified pigs into humans in strictly controlled experiments.

At public meetings, people raised concerns about animal welfare, possible cross-species infection and ethical and religious considerations.

Dr Pettigrew said the council had spent a great deal of time deliberating on the working party's report, which recommended against animal organ transplants.

The NHMRC has also held off making a decision on whether to move ahead with further research into animal cellular therapies -- where animal cells are used in humans -- which had support from the working party.

"The council is not yet ready to agree with that," Prof Pettigrew said.

"We need further information and more time to consider the issues."

The council also decided that non-human primates, such as baboons, should never be used as a source of organs for any future clinical trials of animal-to-human transplantation.

The Australian Association for Humane Research (AAHR) welcomed the five-year freeze on xenotransplantation but said the NHMRC should have gone further.

"The ruling means that while no clinical trials will proceed in the near future, animal-to-animal xenotransplantation is likely to continue, despite evidence that this technology is dangerous," it said.

The association also raised concern over possible future research into animal cellular therapies.

"(It is) as scientifically erroneous and unethical as whole organ transplants (and) there is still a risk of viral infection spreading from one species to another," it said.

Copyright © 2004 The Australian

This article posted October 28, 2004.