Hektoen International

A Journal of Medical Humanities

Tag: Ethical Treatment of Animals

  • Xenotransplantation—giving animal organs to humans

    In the early 1990s a distinguished scientist predicted that within twenty years thousands of lives would be saved by xenotransplantation. His optimism was unfortunately premature and in America today more than 100,000 people are waiting to receive human hearts, livers, or kidneys. Yet despite false starts and disappointments, the dream of using animal organs in…

  • What does the zoonotic origin of COVID-19 teach us about preventing future pandemics?

    James A. Marcum Waco, Texas, United States The history of medicine reveals that epidemics and pandemics have plagued humanity throughout the centuries.1 Examples include the Antonine plague (165-180 A.D.), the Justinian plague (541-542 A.D.), the Black Death (1347-1351 A.D.), pandemics such as the Spanish flu (1918-1919) and the Asian flu (1957-1958), and now the COVID-19 pandemic.…