Current projects

National survey of public attitudes and views on animal to human organ transplantation

  • Health care

What is the context?

The possibility of using organs from animals such as pigs for human transplants has been discussed for many decades. Xenotransplantation refers to procedures that involve the transplantation, implantation or infusion into a human recipient of either live tissues or organs retrieved from animals, or human body fluids, cells, tissue or organs from a non-human animal source. Recent technological advances (including pioneering transplants performed in the US since 2022) have ignited interest in the possibility of xenotransplantation entering the mainstream.

There is concern relating to the disparity in timely access to organs in the UK, with individuals from minority ethnic groups often finding themselves on waiting lists for much longer than the rest of the population due to the lack of compatible organs. Animal organs could greatly increase the number of transplants which could save the lives of patients who die while waiting for suitable human organs, as well as improve the quality of life on those on kidney dialysis. However, use of animal organs raises ethical issues (e.g. animal welfare concerns) and health risks (e.g. animal to human infection).

There is also no information available on how the general public views this potential use of animal organs. If the very early, highly experimental procedures taking place in the US are promising, the UK Government will need to determine whether to accept the transplantation of animal organs and tissues and, if so, how to regulate, organise and fund it within the National Health Service.

The survey findings will contribute to policy decision-making in this highly sensitive but potentially life-saving field.

    • What are UK public attitudes to, and views about, the acceptability, and potential advantages and disadvantages of the use of animal organs for human transplants?
    • How do these attitudes and views differ between sub-groups of the public (e.g. differentiated by age, gender, ethnicity, religious beliefs, animal welfare beliefs, etc.)?
    • What type and strength of evidence would members of the public judge to be sufficient for these transplants to enter the NHS routinely?
    • What are some of the possible unintended consequences of the introduction of animal to human transplantation on attitudes and behaviour in relation to human organ donations (e.g. lower consent rate for organ donation)?
  • A lay involvement group has been established with members of the public from different racialised minority and religious groups, who will be engaged throughout the research: advising and contributing to identification of topics and questions, testing questions for understandability and later helping to interpret the findings.

    A representative national sample survey will take place in summer 2024 to gather data on public attitudes to animal to human transplantation. The survey will also use socioeconomic, ethnic and religious data so that sub-group differences in attitudes can be highlighted and understood.

    The evaluation team will report to policy stakeholders, as well as disseminating the findings in a range of ways to the general public and in peer-reviewed research journals.