| Popis: |
Transplants save lives. Clinical transplantation has a magnificent record, and it has saved the lives of thousands. Sadly, despite its overwhelming clinical success, the enterprise of organ transplantation remains frustrated by a shortage of organs. Demand has outstripped supply. Ultimately, this means that thousands of people, who value their lives, die waiting for a transplant. This is a tragedy, particularly since many, probably most, of these deaths are preventable. Healthcare matters. Not just because of tangible benefit outcome measures, but because it affects people's lives. This is why it is a moral imperative to identify and implement morally acceptable ways in which suitable organs are available for all those in need of a transplant. This thesis takes a synoptic view of organ transplantation, its development and its evolution. It examines the dynamic interplay of regulation, prohibition, and biotechnological innovation that continues to evolve in the arena of transplant immunobiology and clinical transplantation. It challenges the legitimacy of systems of organ donation and transplantation that exist, through critical analysis of underlying theoretical concepts, ethical argument, legal frameworks, transplant biology, and clinical outcome data. Finally, it explores scientific advances in transplant immunobiology and considers whether an extraordinarily sophisticated harmony between nature, adaptation and artificial intervention may make it possible not only to restore complex disease pathology and organ failure, but also to evolve the beings that we are and may become. |
