XENOTRANSPLANTE : UMA APROXIMAÇÃO ÉTICO-TEOLÓGICA

Abstract

Faced with human need due to the lack of available organs for transplant, medicine begins to invest in alternatives in the hope of supplying more. One of the alternatives that stands out in the scientific world regarding transplants is the use of organs of animal origin, called xenotransplants. Bioethics considers scientific aspects involving xenotransplantation; but it cannot disregard consideration of anthropological, philosophical, religious, sociological, and spiritual aspects that are necessarily connected with experimentation and the use of such technology. The contribution of theology to the ethical evaluation of xenotransplantation is inserted within this framework of questions, which treat a conceptual bibliographical research. We understand that there are criteria from Christian ethics that can contribute to the ethical evaluation of research and the application of results related to the use of animal organs in humans, and in the production of transgenic animal lines and their consequent transplantation into human beings. These criteria particularly concern the anthropological, ethical, and theological values involved; the treatment due to human beings and animals in research; and issues related to the application of the researched questions.