Types Of Pigs

Would We Find Human Organs Grown in Pigs Too Gross to Be Useful for Transplants?

The use of pigs as a host for growing human organs would certainly create disgust for most people. Transplanting organs from pigs is likely to generate two types of disgust: a physical (or core) disgust that generally stems from a deep aversion to potential sources of contamination and a moral disgust, which protects the “social order.”

Transplanting organs from a dead person is strange enough for many people, consciously or unconsciously. Not only do we have an aversion to dead bodies (physical disgust), but people from many cultures also have a nagging suspicion that traits of a dead person can be passed on to the recipient of a donor’s organs. Now, imagine the misgivings people may have when the donor (or host) of those organs is a pig. This issue also raises the specter of Frankenstein. “Messing” with nature can lead to terrible consequences, or so the lesson goes. Many people will find growing human organs inside of a pig to be rather monstrous. It’s an excellent example of something that will create strong moral disgust.

Ultimately, however, I believe that given the high demand for transplantable human organs and the undesirability of the alternative (chronic illness and death), most people who need a transplant will work through their disgust responses and accept organs for transplant that are grown in pigs. I expect that people who do not eat pigs for religious reasons will reject this as an option, but since most people in most cultures have no problem slaughtering pigs for food, it seems likely that this option will grow in acceptability over time, just as human organ transplantation itself has become more acceptable over the last four decades.

Susan Morgan is a professor of communication at Purdue University.