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Bring on the era of the pig-man!

It looks like the ladder of evolution has taken an unexpected turn, or at least skipped a few eons as scientists have found a way to transplant pig parts into humans. Do we dare to think it could be a turn for the better? And do we actually want to do it? My question is - why would someone want to be a piece of bacon? And would we then taste as good?

These are questions we need to consider following the announcement by biotechnology firms that they have successfully produced genetically modified pigs that they say will allow us to replace our organs with theirs when our own fail.

The idea of using animal parts such as kidney, hearts, lungs etc - all the parts of the body people bugger up through living the way we do - has been a tempting one for many years. Ever since good ol' James Watson discovered the DNA double-helix that makes us all individual and unique etc. etc… it has been a fierce race. But the dream has always evaded us because every little creature from bacteria to monkeys has an enzyme called alpha 1.3 galactosyl transferase (for those of you who care) which adds a coating of sugar to the surface of cells. It is this coating of sugar that makes an organ recognisable as an intruder in a human body.

You see, humans and African primates for that matter don't have such sweet-tooth cells with sugar all over them. So before we even have a chance to use them our body is kicking them out because we know immediately they don't belong there. Since a few days ago we are at the threshold of making pig parts into human parts - I can see us all taking a different look at the meat section in the supermarket. Scientists still have a lot of tinkering to do with the genes to make this possible but the thought is worth the time to think about it.

And there seem to be more and more of these little piggies going to the market as two biotechnology firms announce successful cloned piglets within a few days of each other. Little cloned piglets all ready to be cut up so we can continue to enjoy living the destructive lives we do. Such overgrown pieces of bacon hold the industry in their sizzling rears which is estimated to be about R90-billion. PPL Therapeutics and Immerge Bio Therapeutics are the two main contestants in the rat…er, pig race to supply organs to the near 100 000 of waiting patients in Britain and the United States.

So what else is new? We are suffering from heart problems and obesity because we eat these little suckers and now we want to breed more of them simply so they can cure the problems that they gave us in the first place. Tell me if I am on the wrong track here. We are using what kills us to save us so we can eat more of what kills us?

These xenotransplants are a nifty thing indeed. But now there is news that the world's most famous sheep, Dolly, is suffering from arthritis. So in a hundred years can we expect to look like pigs that limp around suffering from arthritis?

Cool.