Organ transplantation

Organ transplantation transfers an organ from a donor to a recipient to replace a failing organ. It may involve living or deceased donors and requires managing compatibility and rejection.

Histocompatibility: The degree to which donor and recipient tissue markers are compatible with one another. Matching tissue markers can reduce immune attack on the transplanted organ.
Kidney transplantation: The surgical replacement of a recipient's kidney function with a donor kidney. It is the most common solid-organ transplant and can use a living donor.
Alexis Carrel: A French surgeon who developed methods for vascular suturing and organ transplantation. His vascular techniques helped make experimental organ grafting technically feasible.
Organ allocation: The process of assigning donated organs to candidates for transplantation. Allocation rules determine how limited organs are distributed among people awaiting transplants.
Decellularization: The removal of cells from a tissue or organ while retaining much of its structural matrix. Researchers investigate whether repopulated scaffolds could provide transplantable organs.
Organ rejection: An immune response in which a recipient's body damages transplanted tissue. Rejection is the central immune threat after transplantation.
Liver transplantation: The replacement of a diseased liver with a donor liver or part of one. The liver can regenerate, enabling transplantation of a donated portion.
Peter Medawar: A British biologist whose research helped establish the immune basis of graft rejection. His work explained why genetically different grafts are often rejected.
Organ donation: The authorization and recovery of organs for transplantation or research after death or, in some cases, during life. Donation is the supply pathway on which transplantation depends.
3D bioprinting: The layer-by-layer fabrication of structures using living cells and biomaterials. Printing fully functional, vascularized organs remains an ambitious response to donor shortages.

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