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Bid for pig-to-human transplant trials despite virus fear By JUDY SKATSSOON SYDNEY: Researchers should be allowed to transplant parts from genetically modified pigs into humans in strictly controlled experiments, a national advisory body has recommended. Trials could involve injecting pig brain cells into human brains or transplanting a pig's heart into a human. The draft guidelines of the National Health and Medical Research Council's working party on xenotransplantation, issued for public comment today, are likely to spark heated debate within medical, patient and animal welfare groups. If the guidelines are accepted, clinical trials on human patients could be anything from two to 10 years away, working party chair Dr Kerry Breen said. The recommendation comes despite acknowledged concerns that an animal virus could cross the species barrier, unleashing a potentially uncontrollable human epidemic. However, the working party believes the risk of this happening can be contained. "We believe that with centralised oversight and really strict framework and guidelines that we can . . . over the next few years put our toe in the water safely," Dr Breen told a media briefing. Trials would focus on pig-to-human transplants, although fish and rodents could also provide material. Transplants between monkeys and humans have been ruled out because of the high risk of cross-species infection. However, initial experiments would involve pig-to-baboon trials. Dr Breen said recent leaps forward in genetic technology meant xenotransplantation was now a viable solution to the shortage of human organ donors. It also offered hope in treating a range of diseases including diabetes, liver failure and Parkinson's, and could save lives as well as improving quality of life for many chronically ill patients. However, the major concern was the "theoretical risk" that an animal virus could cross the species barrier, Dr Breen said. The AIDS virus is believed to have crossed from primates to humans. At least one pig virus, the Porcine Endogenous Retrovirus has been shown to infect human cells in the laboratory. The former chair of the transplantation ethics working party, Associate Professor Bernadette Tobin, said there were a number of "pretty formidable" ethical concerns in allowing future trials to go ahead. Among these were deeply rooted cultural taboos about animal- human hybrids and bestiality. The vice-president of the International Xenotransplantation Association, Dr Tony d'Apice, of the Immunology Research Centre at Melbourne's St Vincent's Hospital, in March opposed a diabetes treatment trial in the Cook Islands. Planned in New Zealand, this was to have used pig tissue. However, Dr d'Apice said the international association endorsed the NHMRC recommendations because there were adequate regulatory controls that had not been present in the abandoned Cook Islands trials. "The report is saying, 'Yes, there's a possibility that this may become a good clinical tool, yes we think there are some risks'," he said. "The best way to handle this is to have a central regulatory and monitoring system in place." Animal welfare groups said they would oppose any move to allow further experimentation and called for xenotransplantation to be banned. Executive director of Animals Australia, Glenys Oogjes, said animals would suffer from attempts to genetically modify them and also from being confined in laboratory environments. Animal welfare groups were also opposed to the farming of animals for spare parts, she said. "The fact that we will be using animals for their parts as well is of great concern," she said. Animals Australia represents 42 animal rights and welfare organisations across Australia and NZ. Members of the public will be able to comment at a series of meetings in Perth, Melbourne and Sydney next month. SOURCE: The Canberra Times http://canberra.yourguide.com.au/detail.asp?class=news&subclass=national&story_id=162171&category=General+News&m=7&y=2 002 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn