Answers to Section 3.

7
1. Distinguish between living donor transplant and deceased donor transplants. Which type is
more common?

 Living donor transplant happens when a living person decides to donate a kidney, a lobe of
one of their lungs, or a part of their liver, whereas most organs come from deceased people
who either signed a donor card while they were living or told their families that wanted to
donate their organs. The families can give consent if no donor card was signed. Deceased
donor transplants allow for transplantation of the kidney, heart, liver, lung, pancreas, and
intestines. Tissues can also be transplanted such as cornea, skin bone, bone marrow,
tendons, and blood vessels.

2. Why is the list of living donor organs much shorter than the list of deceased donor organs?

 A couple of reasons:
o Because there is some risk to donors, e.g., if you donate a kidney, you have given
away your “back-up” to save someone’s life.
o Just determining whether you are suitable for organ donation is a very complicated
process. Many, many tests are involved to match donor to recipient which means a
lot of time and inconvenience for the donor. This is a good thing in a way because
organ donation is not something you should take lightly—the decision is a serious one,
as every surgery is a risk.
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3. Briefly describe the procedure for a living organ donation.

 Usually the donor is a relative of the recipient to increase the chance that the organs will be
a genetic match and to decrease the probability of rejection. In the case of a liver
transplant, doctors remove one lobe of the donor’s liver and transplant it into the recipient.
The transplanted lobe will form new tissue and, over time, function as a complete liver.
The donor’s liver will also regenerate to replace the removed portion.

4. What are the two main risks for transplant patients? Define xenotransplantation. Why is it a
controversial issue?

 Two main risks for transplant patients are rejection and complications from the surgery,
e.g., blood clots or infection at the incision site.
 Xenotransplantation means transplanting organs from one species to another.
 The controversies around xenotransplantation are many:
o animal-rights activism around the use and alteration of pig genetics and physiology to
service the needs of humans
o possibility for xenogeneic infections, e.g., porcine (pig) infections arising in humans,
which would be really dangerous (as we can see with the swine flu, avian flu, current
COVID-19 if it turns out that it is zoonotic)
o serious theological and ethical questions about the humanity of the person who has
been given an animal organ, the purity of the animals used, and the just treatment of
animals in the three monotheistic religions (Islam, Judaism, Christianity)

5. It has been suggested that everyone should be required to be an organ donor. What are the
arguments for and against this suggestion? Where do you stand? Explain your position.

 I think it should be opt-out instead of opt-in which is what we have. I believe that because I
think most people don’t donate out of forgetfulness.
 Also because of the big problem of illegal organ transplants—especially harvesting of organs
from Chinese prisoners while they are still living. Many of these are political prisoners, in
prison for their religion (Falun Gong or Muslim or Christian).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_harvesting_from_Falun_Gong_practitioners_in_China

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-china-rights-organ-harvesting/un-urged-to-investigate-organ-harvesting-in-
china-idUSKBN1W92FL

https://www.haaretz.com/world-news/asia-and-australia/.premium-china-promised-to-stop-organ-harvesting-
it-only-changed-how-it-conceals-operations-1.8288161

https://www.bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m859

https://www.chinaorganharvest.org/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/asia/china-religious-ethnic-minorities-uighur-muslim-harvest-
organs-un-human-rights-a9117911.html

https://bylinetimes.com/2019/11/26/more-uyghur-horror-harvesting-hundreds-of-thousands-of-organs-from-
mass-murder/