The Tragedy of Xenotransplantation :: Transplants Medical Essays

The Tragedy of Xenotransplantation Background and challenges In 1954, surgeon Joseph Murray started a revolution in the Medical industry by performing the first human organ transplant, a kidney transplant between identical twins(1). Initially, allotransplantation received some hindrance due to the ability of the human immune system to reject any foreign object. With the introduction of cyclosporin, a powerful drug that minimizes the rejection of foreign tissue, allotransplantion possibilities have expanded spectacularly(3). It is no longer necessary to have an exact match of certain blood type markers for a successful human transplant. This means organs from unrelated people can be used. Recipients have a good chance today of living at least five years with an allograft. These days organ transplantation is a norm. Each year about 20,000 Americans receive life saving transplants of heart, kidneys , liver or lungs. Today, allotransplantation faces a significant challenge because the need for this procedure far exceeds the av ailability of donor organs. Each day, approximately 10 Americans breathe their last breath waiting for organs to become available. To meet this scarcity of human organs, doctors along with pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies are investigating an alternative to allotransplantation, xenotransplantation. Xenotransplantation, (xeno) is a greek word meaning â€Å"stranger†, involves transplanting or grafting of animal organs, tissues, or cells to replace failing organs or to treat disease in humans. These transplanted or grafted organ, tissue, or cell is called a xenotransplant or xenograft. As documented in Table 1, the concept of xenotransplantation dates as back as 1682, but it was not until the 1960's that the technological world stimulated this idea for whole organ transplant. In 1963, Keith Reemtsma transplanted chimpanzee kidneys into thirteen patients. Also, in 1964 Hardy and colleagues from the University of Mississippi used a chimpanzee’s heart as a xenograft. The patients did not survive for long but the transplanted organs showed no sign of rejection. This success inspired more research and development in xenotransplantation, which resulted in the use of this process for therapeutic effects, such as bone marrow transplant in AIDS patients. Although, both whole organ and bone marrow transplants received limited success, the use of pig's heart valves to repair human hearts and porcine pancreatic islet cells to treat diabetes raises the hopes of scientists that someday whole organ xenotransplantation will be possible.

Masks of Eternity Essay

In the episode â€Å"Masks of Eternity,† Joseph Campbell explains the godliness of self. He explains ideas about the past versus the present and the common ways of thinking that have changed the way messages are viewed and interpreted. He goes over the ideas of the inner Christ, the significance of the circle, and peak experiences. Campbell speaks of an inner Christ in all people. It is not a connection to God, but a oneness with him; meaning that you become a part of God. He explains it as the difference of an individual life, meaning the life of the person, and the all encompassing life, meaning the life that turns the world and all other things. He tells of finding it through meditation, finding that center of yourself that can feel a connection to the life around you and the realization that all things are connected and caused by one another. Campbell interprets the things he was taught as a child, about the angel and the demon on either side of him, as the urges that push our decisions in one direction or the other. These energies, he says, come from the different organs of the body. Each needs something different, and the urges that arise are about what is needed most. Campbell also speaks of the significance of the circle. Each culture has some form of importance in the shape of the circle. He talks about the way Native Americans built their villages in the shape of a circle, the way Aztecs made a circular calendar, and the way that each culture put itself in the center of that circle. He talks about ancient cultures believing that everything generates around a specific point, orbiting around it. Campbell also speaks of time going in a circle. In ancient times, it was seen as a reoccurring aspect of life, summer, fall, winter, spring. All things ended and began anew in a pattern. Now, though, time is seen as a straight line. Clocks make us realize that time is flowing past and will never come again. Before, death was looked at as a rebirth; now it is simply looked at as the end. Peak experiences, as Campbell explains, are moments where you can feel the harmony of being alive. For him, it was a race in Colombia. He said he could feel that he was going to win the race, not even because he was winning, but because he could feel it within himself. He explains peak experiences as being in a state of mind that allows you to see your outer most limits and obtain your maximum potential. He goes on to say that not all peak experiences are physical. Some can simply be a thought or realization that changes your outlook on life or solving a problem. Some peak experiences are not the highest points of your life. A life can have many peak experiences as long as you feel that you are at one with yourself and what you are accomplishing. Personally, I understand the inner Christ, not as a connection to the life around us, but a working understanding of the path God has set out for us. I can understand the ideas behind this belief in the inner Christ and the idea that Jesus may have found his inner connection with life, but I do not agree with it. I believe that The feeling they are referring to is the feeling that comes with following Gods path, whether you know him as your savior or not. The idea of the circle on the other hand, I can understand completely. Time feels like it is flowing by without slowing, but there is always the chance of next time. Next time I’ll get that raise; next time I’ll win; next time I will do better. Time isn’t a perfect circle to me, but neither is it a straight line. It is a looping flow, cork screwing back onto itself. My peak realization in life so far was the creation of an art piece in high school. I was working on a drawing of a tree, creating every painstaking detail, and all the time, I knew that I was going to be proud of it; that I was going to get it right. I felt accomplished without having yet accomplishing anything. To this day, I can look at no other piece I have finished and count it as my best.

The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald - 1075 Words

American dream was a constant topic all over the world. In different period there were different definitions of American dream. In the early of time, it concluded some elements about equal, right and freedom. These were basic of American dream. People had equally right and had freedom belief. In the American, there were many chances to get rich and people hoped to seek the good life. But with the developed of the economy, American dream had new definition. American dream gradually became to seek a quickly way to get rich rather than trying their hard to get rich. Also this was the period after the second war, and people enjoyed the happy life and wealth life. The young generation was addicted to American dream and crazy to accumulate†¦show more content†¦During this meeting, the love between Gatsby and Daisy was revived, and then they began an affair. After that, Nick learned the true story of Gatsby’s past. He was born in poor family, so he changed his name at the ag e of seventeen. And when he met Daisy in a part he fell in love with her at once, but due to many reasons he did not marry with Daisy. Now he had a great deal of money and wanted to win back Daisy. After Gatsby and Daisy discussed, Daisy invited Gatsby, Nick and Jordan to lunch at her house. And they wanted to tell the truth to Daisy’s husband. After lunch, they drove to the Plaza Hotel in the city. In the hotel, Tom and Gatsby had a bitter confrontation and this made Daisy lost control of her emotions. And then Tom permitted Gatsby to drive Daisy back to East Egg. On the trip back to East Egg, Gatsby allowed Daisy to drive the car. But when they passed Wilson’s garage, Daisy in order to avoid another car and hit Myrtle, who was killed instantly. George Wilson was the husband of Myrtle and he wanted to find the killer, Tom Buchanan told him that Gatsby was the driver of the car. Then Wilson shot Gatsby before committing suicide himself. After the murder, Daisy and Tom left town to avoid their responsible. Nick organize Gatsby’s funeral, but found no one cared for Gatsby and attended the funeral. Nick seek out Gatsby’s father, and brought him to New York for the funeral. In the end Nick left New York with disappointed of