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An article published in the journal Nature announced a supposed “breakthrough” in xenotransplantation and touts that a monkey who received a kidney graft from a genetically modified pig survived for more than two years. This monkey and the 20 others used in the grisly experiments were long-tailed macaques, classified as an endangered species.
This is neither scientific nor a breakthrough.
A look under the hood of this grotesque sideshow reveals the reality of biotech company eGenesis’ experiment. We urge everyone to read the fine print.
What Really Happened
Multiple monkeys were subjected to the transplants, and many died shortly afterward, at four, six, eight, nine, and 16 days. Ten suffered renal failure and were euthanized. Six more were euthanized after nearing renal failure and also experiencing widespread blood clotting, respiratory distress, coughing up blood, and other problems. One monkey became paraplegic.
Primates implanted with organs taken from pigs—like this baboon at the University of Alabama–Birmingham—suffer painful and debilitating consequences from the invasive surgery.
All the monkeys, none of whom consented to these horrors, suffered continuously. PETA obtained a necropsy report for one of the monkeys, whose existence was perpetual misery. Organ and tissue damage was catastrophic. His abdomen was full of blood, and his organs were matted together with scar tissue as sperm leaked into his stomach.
PETA challenges the facilities involved with this experiment—Massachusetts General Hospital, the University of Wisconsin–Madison and its Wisconsin National Primate Research Center, and Duke University—to release all video footage and necropsy reports from the experiment and let the taxpayers funding it decide for themselves whether there’s anything to celebrate.
What You Can Do
Xenotransplantation is the perversion of science, not the future of it. Aside from its inherent speciesism, it brings the potential for catastrophic public health threats from transmittable diseases jumping from one species to another.
Please take a minute to learn more about the horrors of xenotransplantation and the real, practical, and workable non-animal solutions PETA proposes and take action to help end animal experimentation permanently.
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