AIDS patient Jeff Getty received a baboon bone marrow transplant in 1995. And some researchers believe they are on the verge of making xenotransplantation of whole organs work although the attempts carried out so far have not been very encouraging. Even if it turns out that animal organs can not be successfully transplanted, researchers also have ideas for transplanting animal cells for therapeutic effect. In fact, transplants of living animal cells into people are already are being tried. For example, Suzanne Ildstad, director of the Institute for Cellular Therapeutics in Louisville, Kentucky studies bone-marrow transplantation.
Bone marrow produces immune system cells.
The hope was to replace Getty s crumbling immune system with an HIV-proof baboon immune system that could protect him from infection. Although the baboon cells functioned for only two weeks, Getty is still alive and the researchers learned a great deal. In another experiment, researchers at CytoTherapeutics, Inc., in Lincoln, R.I. implanted cow adrenal cells which produce a natural painkiller into the spinal columns of patient suffering intractable pain. The cells survived and functioned, but the patients unfortunately felt no pain relief. If the potential benefits are huge, so are the barriers.