xenotransplantation

/ˌzɛnoʊtrænzplænˈteɪʃən/

In xenotransplantation, living material is taken from a member of one species and put into a member of another species. You may have heard of someone having a heart valve replaced with one made out of tissue from a pig. That's an example of xenotransplantation.

The word xenotransplantation is built from four main parts: xeno, "foreign," trans, "across," plant, "fix in place," and the suffix -tion, meaning "act or process." The transplanted organ or other tissue is "foreign" because it is from another species. Xenotransplantation from animals to people is uncommon and experimental, and it often makes big news when it happens. The human body's rejection of xenotransplants is a problem.

Definitions of xenotransplantation

1. noun

   a surgical procedure in which tissue or whole organs are transfered from one species to another species
   synonyms: xenotransplant

   type of:

   organ transplant, transplant, transplantation

   an operation moving an organ from one organism (the donor) to another (the recipient)