Pig-to-Human Transplants

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gene-editing-success-brings-pig-to-human-transplants-closer-to-reality/

Today scientists in Massachusetts announced that by using the CRISPR–Cas9 gene-editing system they were able to inactivate all 25 viruses in the pig genome, yielding seemingly healthy piglets and moving research one step closer to a future of xenotransplantation. “Our animal is probably the most [genetically] modified animal on the Earth,”

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So what is the morality on this one? Is harvesting their organs for transplant any worse than eating them? And especially for vegans, what are there thoughts. If a vegan or one of their loved ones needed a new heart, what then?

I doubt it's an issue for most.

You can live a relatively healthy life without eating animals.
You can't live a relatively healthy life without a major organ.
We will one day be able to do it without a pig, but until then, hopefully it's as humane as possible.

I thought this thread was about Kanye West and the Kardashians.

soylentgreen said:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gene-editing-success-brings-pig-to-human-transplants-closer-to-reality/


So what is the morality on this one? Is harvesting their organs for transplant any worse than eating them? And especially for vegans, what are there thoughts. If a vegan or one of their loved ones needed a new heart, what then?

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I certainly would prefer a pork heart than that of a sunflower.

Mach said:

I doubt it's an issue for most.

You can live a relatively healthy life without eating animals.
You can't live a relatively healthy life without a major organ.
We will one day be able to do it without a pig, but until then, hopefully it's as humane as possible.

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Probably wont really even be an issue as tissue printing is advancing rapidly, along with adult stem cell technology.

soylentgreen said:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gene-editing-success-brings-pig-to-human-transplants-closer-to-reality/


So what is the morality on this one? Is harvesting their organs for transplant any worse than eating them? And especially for vegans, what are there thoughts. If a vegan or one of their loved ones needed a new heart, what then?

Click to expand...

I think in not to distant future this will be looked on as immoral as industry/science will have made it so we can produce non-conscious genetically modified organs without the need to grow full animals; in the meantime, we require piggy-backing on already living creatures and so its a moral grey(dependant on context). I wonder though on the choice of pig considering it will be against jewish/islamic/christian taboos...I know the biological reasons, I still find it curious when talking questions of morality.

Personally, I may choose to forgo such an organ (for myself not for a loved one) if not directly connected to better utilizing the organs of pigs for meat in a humane farm, as I do think it is probably morally wrong even if like Mach I see it as pragmatic, necessary, and even more morally justified than eating. My greater hope like his would be any such industry remains as humane as possible.

I am not a vegan, so this may seem extra odd. I do however find the idea of harvesting organs distasteful and as such supporting an industry of sacrificing ones life to sustain another distasteful. Again the eating meat thing may seem weird but I am still a big animal rights supporter despite my taste for meat. I think the cycle of predatory consumption can be apart of a natural ecosystem even if that does not include certain current agricultural practices. I eat cows thus we have more cows because I cultivate and support cows etc. that can be a general good. Creating and modifying life for my own reasons however starts to cross into factory farming and that where I start to draw clear lines.

From the other side, I truly fear for when we can lab grown sustenance. At what point do we begin to despise all life outside our own? At what point will we draw our line with our war to promote artificial ideals on nature and ecosystem balance? I am connected to my environment and share this planet with plants, bacteria and animals. To me, being in balance with them is as important morally as with other humans. I don’t harvest organs for the same reason I don’t sacrifice animals to appease old rituals or trap & hunt them for sport. I respect their lives as prey and try to be responsible as a predator, in that there is little room to disregard that they are conscious beings especially when talking complex and intelligent creatures like pigs. I may kill them for many reasons from food to making consumable product to utilizing an organ but I do not do so lightly or because they are mine to kill. I do so because it's apart of cycle of life but one that can't be without checks and balances.

soylentgreen said:

https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gene-editing-success-brings-pig-to-human-transplants-closer-to-reality/


So what is the morality on this one? Is harvesting their organs for transplant any worse than eating them? And especially for vegans, what are there thoughts. If a vegan or one of their loved ones needed a new heart, what then?

Click to expand...

I'm a vegan. If my choice is to take a pig heart or die then I am taking the damn pig heart. No second thoughts.

There is actually a rift in the vegan community regarding the use of animals in medical research and treatment. I consider myself a vegan because the best of my ability I avoid eating animals, wearing animal products, or using animals for my entertainment. I have health, environmental and ethical reasons, though I am not an evangelist about it.

But I am a speciesist. I do value human life over animal life and I don't actually believe most vegans who claim otherwise.

Let's say there is a two room building. In one room is a human infant. In the other room are 10 infant chimpanzees. The building is on fire and you can only save the occupant/s of one room. Do you save the 10 chimp babies or the 1 human baby? I save the human baby. And I believe the overwhelming majority of vegans, if put into that situation, would save the human baby.

As a vegan I don't think animals are here for my convenience. But survival is survival and humans come first. I have been asked before what would I do if I was stranded on a deserted island and animals were the only thing to eat until I was rescued and my choices were to eat the animals or starve to death. What would I do? I'd be killing and eating some animals, that's what I would do. Could I still call myself a vegan in that situation? WHO CARES?! Nobody cares about labels when you are dying.

So, even though I consider myself a vegan, I am not opposed to animal medical experimentation until a better alternative comes along. Obviously I am against animal experimentation for trivial things like makeup, but for actual medicine I am ok with it.

As for the overall ethics? Yeah, using the heart of a pig to live is orders of magnitude more ethical then simply killing the pig because bacon tastes good.

I'm an omnivore. I have no moral code when it comes to eating.

I don't care too much what is done in medical research as long as it benefits me. I have no moral code when it comes to self-preservation.