1. A tissue transplanted from a member of a species into a human is a xenotransplant.

2. There are not enough donor organs to fill the need. 50,000 people are on waiting lists for donor organs. About 4,000 of these people die from their illnesses each year, still waiting.

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3.The immune system attacks foreign pathogens, but considers transplanted organs as pathogens as well. When the immune system attacks transpanted organs, this is called transplant rejection.

4. The more distant the species of the donor, the more difficult it is for your body to accept the organ.

5. For human-to-human transplants, doctors suppress the immune system in order to prevent rejection. Doctors usually prescribe antirejection drugs for the recipient of the organ.

6. More than 20,000 human-to-human transplants are performed each year in the U.S.. Most of these patients would soon die without this transplant.

7. Donor organs usually come from those who have died in accidents and had previously agreed to donate their organs at death.

8. Although xenotransplantation is still experimental, many researchers have high hopes that the scientific problems posed by rejection can be solved.