1. The transplantation of organs and tissues from animals into humans (i.e.
xenotransplantation) has been a long sought objective to allow xenotranspl
antation to achieve its full impact in the clinical practice of medicine,
2. The main hurdles to the application of xenotransplantation are the imunu
nological reaction. of the recipient against the transplant, the functional
limitations of tissues and organs in biogenetically disparate recipients a
nd the possibility of transferring infectious organisms from the graft into
the recipient.
3. Advances in a variety of fields have shed new light on these hurdles and
have given rise to potential solutions and prospects for the clinical appl
ication of xenotransplant and are summarized in the report that follows.