There are more than 3,500 Canadians on the waiting list for an organ transplant. Of these 3500, more than 1500 die each year because they do not receive the organ (www.kincanada.ca). The demand for organs is so high that scientists around the world are trying to find a way to reduce the proportion. Scientists from Britain, Korea, the United States and other countries around the world are examining using the organs of genetically modified pigs for human organ transplantation. Can pigs be genetically modified so that their organs are accepted by the human body? The modified pigs must hide their origin from the human immune system (www.gate2biotech.com). Pig organs are about the same size as human organs and function in much the same way. Lord Winston and his colleagues at Imperial College London have the idea that if the pig has 6 human genes, this will reduce the chance of the organ being rejected by the human body (www.naturalnews.com). The pig's organs are coated with a sugar molecule, alpha galactose, which has a small reaction speed in humans. Human antibodies attach to the sugar molecule and would rapidly destroy the newly transplanted pig organ (www.nationalgeographics.com). Making pig organs suitable for humans is a gigantic task; a task that requires an objective. Lei Xiao, from the Shanghai Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, who conducted the research, explains that modifying pig stem cells would be useful because pig organs are very similar to human organs. They would use stem cells from an embryo and modify human immune genes to make the pig organ compatible with the human immune system. So they would provide the organs for the patients to use and the organs will not be rej...... middle of the document ....... CNN World March 23, 2011 from cnnworld.tv http://www.cncworld.tv /news /v_show/13473_Pig_organs_for_humans_.shtml“Selective breeding”. Biology Online August 15, 2008. Retrieved April 6, 2011, biologyonline.org http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Selective_BreedingTrivedi, Bijal P. “Cloned Pigs Modified for Use in Human Transplants.” National Geographic News January 3, 2002. Retrieved April 6, 2011, from nationalgeographic.comhttp://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2002/01/0103_020103TVclonedpig.htmlWilcox, Sara “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly in Xenotransplantation” Biology Teach April 3, 2003. Retrieved April 6, 2011, from bioteach,ubc.ca http://www.bioteach.ubc.ca/Journal/V01I01/4952xenotransplant.pdf“Xenotransplantaion”. Heath Canada, January 17, 2007. Retrieved April 6, 200 from hc-sg.gc.ca http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/sr-sr/biotech/about-apropos/xeno-eng.php