Yet even in the face of these health concerns, the biotechnology industry is spending billions to cross species boundaries between animals and humans. Until it is stopped, society runs the risk of causing another plague. Of 83 patients thus experimented on, all but one died. Researchers have also tried shuffling livers, kidneys, hearts, lungs, even heads, among dogs, goats, monkeys, pigs, sheep, baboons, and rabbits. Despite massive doses of immuno- suppressant drugs, all these attempts also failed.
Species naturally reject body parts of other species.
To overcome this natural resistance, scientists have begun to engineer human genes and organs into mice, pigs, cows, and other animals. There is terrible danger in these experiments. Xenotransplantation has a good chance of fostering new infections for which there will be no cure. A new global pandemic is certainly possible. In transplants from pigs or primates to humans, the opportunity is present for a crossover infection from a virus or from other pathogens.