1. Should companies be allowed to continue research and development in xenotransplantation? Do the benefits outweigh the risks?
2. Does xenotransplantation threaten the quality of human life? If so, what threats exist? Do similar threats exist for other species? Are quality-of-life issues less important for some species than for others? What, if anything, makes animal rights different from human rights?
3. What threats does xenotransplantation hold for the environment as a whole? Who are the different stakeholders involved? What are their stakes?
4. Given that many countries do not restrict human xenotransplantation, what threats exist globally with xenotransplant technology?
5. Is the issue more or less complicated than other bioethical topics like cloning or stem cell research? How can one make the argument that therapeutic cloning, such as that used in xenotransplantation, should be permitted while reproductive cloning, like that advocated by groups like the Raelians, should not?

Xenotransplantation is the transfer of living cells, tissue, and organs from one species to another, such as from a pig to a human for medical purposes. The transplanted material is called a xenotransplant and is the technological base upon which the xenotransplant industry is built.
The history of xenotransplantation dates back to the first transplant of a pig kidney into a human in 1906. Other experiments have included kidneys transplanted from goats, sheep, and chimpanzees; livers and bone marrow from baboons; and hearts and skin from pigs. In one of the field’s earliest efforts, a California baby lived for three weeks with a heart transplanted from a baboon.