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| Title: | A survey of the attitude of scientists toward Xenotransplantation in Taiwan |
| Authors: | Yen, Shang-Yung;Lee, Sheng-Ming;Tu, Chin-Fu;Tang, Shu-Mei;de Dieu, Tapsoba Jean |
| Contributors: | Department of Financial and Economic Law |
| Date: | 2009-09 |
| Issue Date: | 2010-03-26 05:17:24 (UTC+0) |
| Publisher: | Asia University |
| Abstract: | This study examined the attitudes of scientists in Taiwan's leading animal research institution toward xenotransplantation. The aim was primarily to evaluate the opinions of professionals in the biomedical field on key issues including ethical moral, legal, and regulatory issues raised by the biotechnology. A secondary objective was to identify potential factors that influenced opinions. A questionnaire-based survey was used to evaluate opinions. A test for internal consistency of the questionnaires to sample of 91 scientists was performed as well as a principal component analysis. We evaluated associations between variables using the nonparametric Kruskal-Wallis test. Among the subjects 85.2% thought that xenotransplantation can be more beneficial than harmful to human society and 94.3% believed that it is important to develop xenotransplantation. Also, 97.8% of participants believed that legislative guidelines should be adopted to regulate research in biotechnology. Gender was an influencing factor, whereas, variables such as religion, marital status, and age did not have obvious effects. Further studies on the general public are needed to detect other factors and to examine the attitude of nonprofessionals toward xenotransplantation.
Xenotransplantation is defined as the use of living cells, tissues, or organs from a nonhuman origin for transplantation into a human or their use with ex vivo contact with human body fluids, cells, tissues, or organs that are subsequently given to a human recipient.1 Although the concept is not new, xenotransplantation has recently received considerable attention by scientists in the field of biotechnology in many developed countries, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom. Taiwan with its cultural specificity has taken steps to explore the prospect of xenotransplantation for medical application. This biomedical technology has been investigated not only as a potential solution to the acute shortage of donated human organs for transplantation worldwide,2 but also as a promising alternative to the limited materials of human origin for transplantation thanks to recent advances in immunology and genetic engineering of organ and tissue rejection. It is also expected to help develop strategies for the treatment of diabetes,3 Parkinson's disease,4 intractable pain, and other diseases involving tissue destruction.
Although the potential benefits of xenotransplantation are unquestionable, there are critical safety concerns involved in the practice because it might carry risks, including the transmission of known or as yet unrecognized infectious agents from animal donors to human recipients of transplants and from the recipients to their contacts and the general public. In addition to the aforementioned safety concerns,5 xenotransplantation also raises controversial issues that include the implications of the biotechnology for individual rights and freedoms, common goods, informed consent, freedom from discrimination, as well as human and animal rights in access to novel biotechnologies, in allocation of human allografts, and in animal welfare.6
Thus, to create a better environment for Taiwan to develop a xenotransplantation-related, regenerative medicine industry, it was important to perform a thorough research on its ethical, legal, and social implication (ELSI) issues. We therefore consulted with experts in this field to develop the questions included in a questionnaire that sought to obtain opinions from biotechnology experts. |
| Relation: | Transplantation Proceedings,42(6),2117–2121. |
| Appears in Collections: | [財經法律學系] 期刊論文
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