545 able organic carbon level, degree of pipe corrosion, and treatment/distribution system characteristics. Chloramine is considerably more effective than chlorine for controlling Legionella in biofilms, presumably because chloramine is more stable and thus less reactive than chlorine, allowing it to penetrate the biofilm more deeply. An important factor in distribution system contamination and...

To the Editor: I read with considerable interest Robert E. Michler’s commentary on xenotransplantation (1). From my point of view, that of a basic virologist, the dilemma is not to know in what “foreseeable future, clinical xenotransplantation may achieve its targeted goal of extended graft survival,” but what deadly emerging infectious disease, most probably viral in nature, would arise in a r...

Xenotransplantation faces the dilemma of an unlimited supply of cells, tissues and organs on the one hand and severe obstacles and limits on the other. One reason for the limitations is that the source animal of choice, the pig, and the human recipient separated 90 million years ago during evolution, a time in which biological characteristics such as anatomy, physiology and immunology have had ...

Xenotransplantation is a potential solution to the current donor shortage for solid organ transplantation. The transmission of infectious agents from donor organs or bone marrow to the recipient is a well-recognized phenomenon following allotransplantation. Thus the prospect of xenotransplantation raises the issue of xenozoonoses-i.e., the transmission of animal infections to the human host. An...

The number of kidney transplants performed per year is limited by the availability of donor organs. One novel solution to this shortage envisions "growing" new kidneys in situ via xenotransplantation of renal anlagen. We have shown that developing metanephroi transplanted into the omentum of animal hosts undergo differentiation and growth, become vascularized by blood vessels of host origin, an...

Xenotransplantation may provide the only solution to the shortage of human donor organs. Although hyperacute rejection associated with xenotransplantation can now be overcome, acute vascular rejection (AVR) remains a primary barrier to xenotransplantation. To date, standard immunosuppressive agents fail to block AVR or prolong xenograft survival. The present study was undertaken to determine th...

Xenotransplantation has been proposed as a solution to the shortage of suitable human donors. Pigs are currently favoured as donor animals for xenotransplantation of cells, including islet cells, or organs. To reduce the xenotransplantation-associated risk of infection of the recipient the pig donor should be carefully characterised. Göttingen minipigs from Ellegaard are often used for biomedic...

The outcome of patients with advanced stage rhabdomyosarcoma (RMS) is still sobering. This outcome has not improved through conservative treatments. Therefore, novel treatment approaches such as immunotherapy need to be evaluated in human-adapted animal models. The aim of this study was to develop a humanized mouse model of childhood RMS as a basis for the study of immunotherapeutic approaches....

The clinical success of allotransplantation and the shortage of donor organs have led to a proposal for the use of animal organs as alternative therapeutic materials for humans. In that regard, swine are preferable to non-human primates as a source of donor organs. While applications for clinical trials for xenotransplantation have not yet been received in Canada, several trials have already be...

In several recent conferences, the principal questions have been whether xenotransplantation technology should be encouraged and, if so, how it should be regulated. Because the prospect of successful transplantation of animal organs into humans is still remote, the rush to achieve consensus about clinical application would be inexplicable were it not for two ostensibly unrelated issues. The fir...