The Getty Transplant
Or his health could be due to the simple -- but profound -- improvement in his mood raised by the hope that the transplant would actually control his disease, according to his doctor.
To do future baboon-cell tranplants, doctors would need further federal approval. They would probably use stronger anti-rejection drugs, more radiation, or both, to prevent rejection of the baboon cells. No such experiments are planned at this point.
Been Done Before
Instead of the expensive, high-tech transplant approach, some scientists are taking a closer look at people who naturally resist the deadly HIV.
What could go wrong?
On December 13, Jeff Getty received a transfusion of straw-colored fluid containing two types of baboon cells:
Critics of the experiment say it was not backed by enough animal testing, and even the doctors involved consider it of a long shot. What were the obstacles to success?
This crucial second step has apparently not occurred: Few, if any, of the baboon cells were alive a month after the transplant, Getty's doctor reported. But even if that step did suceed, the transplant would have faced other obstacles:
What could account for Getty's improved health since the transplant? It may be the natural variability if end-stage AIDS. Or, his doctor speculated, it could be the pre-transplant radiation intended to prevent rejection of the new cells.
Most people associate xenotransplantation with the abortive effort to transplant a baboon heart into "Baby Fae" in the early 1980s. But some inter-species transplants have been more successful.
