Xenotransplantation: When People Get Animal Parts

For the last fifty years, what animal's heart valves have been used to replace damaged human heart valves?

• Cows

• Pigs

• Sheep

• Monkeys

What is the scientific term for transplanting organs or tissues from one species to another?

• Autotransplantation

• Allotransplantation

• Xenotransplantation

• Isotransplantation

Why are pig heart valves, after being treated with glutaraldehyde, less likely to be rejected by the human immune system?

• The glutaraldehyde makes the valves stronger.

• The treatment removes all the pig's DNA.

• The treatment kills the pig cells, so they can't produce certain proteins that cause rejection.

• The pig valves are naturally identical to human valves.

What is a potential future method for creating organs that would have virtually no risk of rejection?

• Using organs from genetically engineered monkeys.

• Creating organs from a patient's own stem cells.

• Developing artificial organs from plastic.

• Transplanting organs from blue whales.