It was met with spectacular success because it bypassed the immunological problems of rejection since it took place between one identical twin to another. For his pioneering work in transplantation, Joseph Murray shared the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1990. Apart from results with identical twins the early days of transplantation were fraught with poor results due to the problems of rejection. While this is still a major problem, a number of factors, including the advent of modern immunosuppressive drugs such as cyclosporin have improved the results considerably. With few exceptions religious groups, Christian or non-Chnstian, have recognised the worth of such transplants.
Questions tend to arise from factors other than the transplant itself.
They include brain death, elective ventilation of potential donors, opting in or opting out of organ donation, the use of living related and unrelated donors, the sale of organs, the cost of transplantation in a world of finite resources, and the use of organs from animals. The use of foetal tissue in the treatment of conditions such as Parkinson's disease raises further issues. This article looks at a few of these areas. The Bible does not say a lot about transplantation although the Old Testament has a great deal to say about the moral responsibilities of the individual, and the controlling theme throughout the New Testament is that the Christian has to be Christ-like in his attitude and behaviour. Jesus is the model and example for the Christian.