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Xenotransplantation (XTx) presents a potential clinical alternative to the shortage of human organs for transplantation. Before clinical trials occur in the United States, public assessments are crucial to understand potential barriers to acceptance. The purpose of this study was to explore barriers and identify characteristics associated with attitudes toward XTx. A survey assessing demographic characteristics and attitudes toward XTx was distributed to a nationally representative sample of adults aged ≥18 years in the United States. Regression analysis was employed to identify characteristics associated with attitudes toward XTx. Between May 25 and June 14, 2023, 5008 respondents completed the survey. Importantly, half of the respondents expressed low or no knowledge of either transplantation or XTx. Approximately 40% expressed discomfort with receiving a pig organ for themselves or a loved one. Despite a lack of xenotransplant outcome data, 36% were open to experimental XTx if they needed a transplant. However, 57% rated lack of current evidence of success or fear of complications as top concerns. Regression models consistently associated being younger, female, not needing an organ, or being a member of a racial minority group with lower acceptance. This survey is the largest to date exploring public attitudes toward XTx. Despite overall acceptance, concerns persist. Increasing public acceptance is key as the field advances.

Xenotransplantation offers the potential to meet the critical need for heart and lung transplantation presently constrained by the current human donor organ supply. Much was learned over the past decades regarding gene editing to prevent the immune activation and inflammation that cause early organ injury, and strategies for maintenance of immunosuppression to promote longer-term xenograft survival. However, many scientific questions remain regarding further requirements for genetic modification of donor organs, appropriate contexts for xenotransplantation research (including nonhuman primates, recently deceased humans, and living human recipients), and risk of xenozoonotic disease transmission. Related ethical questions include the appropriate selection of clinical trial participants, challenges with obtaining informed consent, animal rights and welfare considerations, and cost. Research involving recently deceased humans has also emerged as a potentially novel way to understand how xeno-organs will impact the human body. Clinical xenotransplantation and research involving decedents also raise ethical questions and will require consensus regarding regulatory oversight and protocol review. These considerations and the related opportunities for xenotransplantation research were discussed in a workshop sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, and are summarized in this meeting report.

Semiconducting oxide nanoparticles have proven to be excellent in detecting extremely low-concentrations of molecules through surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) effects. While the enhancement of the Raman activities arises from a large increase in polarizability due to charge transfer from the molecule to the semiconducting nanoparticle, little is known about how the oxide composition, nanoparticle size, solvent, or pH affects the observed Raman activities. In the current study, we examine these effects by carrying out extensive computational investigations of semiconducting TiO2, SnO2and Fe2O3nanoparticles and their complexes with both catechol and dopamine. An increase in the size of the oxide cluster or a decrease in the pH of the system under observation leads to enhanced Raman activities; the variation of the activities in different solvents is very much dependent on the nature of the vibrational modes. The marked increase in the Raman activities of molecules adsorbed on SnO2or Fe2O3over that of molecules adsorbed on TiO2seems to indicate that these oxide nanoparticles would be useful substrates for SERS sensors. Our results also indicate that the Raman activities of some of the TiO2modes are magnified upon adsorption of molecules, which concurs with some very recent experimental observations. All these results are consistent with a recently proposed theoretical model of SERS on semiconducting substrates. Further, this work has implications on the development of molecular sensing, dye-sensitized solar cells, and photocatalysis.