I have a question about organ donation which maybe better suited here.

[Wrongn3mber]

I was watching or reading something the other day and i thought of this question so no real purpose except a curious mind.
When someone donates an organ the organ recipient has to take ant rejection drugs. What would happen if a father donated a kidney to his son for lets say 10 years and the son passed away could the organ be given back to the father, and if so would the father then have to start taking anti rejection drugs or would his body accept the organ as his own? One more question does the dna or cells change in the organ from the original owner to the recipients in any way, even a few cells??

[bednobs]

i swear i answered this!

[Old_Geezer]

My guess ....

.... is that as it is his own cells then the anti rejection drugs wouldn't be needed. Although I can see administering them for a while and easing off might be a precaution.

Be a bit of a coincidence that the father needed it back at the exact time his son died though. Unsure if the double trip might result in too much damage, but my guess is that it could be done.

Since the auto rejection drugs are a lifetime task, it seems unlikely to me that the original cells change much once in the new body.

[Old_Geezer]

http://www.theanswerb.../Question1050296.html

[rowanwitch]

something that can happen is cells from the transplanted organ can migrate elsewhere in the body and develop the person in any case have different DNA in the transplanted organ and it is just possible in other places I believe it is called microchimerism or something like that. A donated organ has a life span of approx 10-15 years so its unlikely it would be able to be transplanted back after 10 years also the way organs are 'plumbed in' make unlikely it would be possible for 'mechanical reasons'

[wildwood]

Not sure but i seem to remember read/TV that a transplanted organ will not grow (replace died cells) hence the 'shelf life' - except perhaps the liver (????).

I doubt if it will re-start re-generating when back in the original body.

I too, await with interest for an informative answer. Never thought about this but now I want to know too.

[rowanwitch]

the failure of he transplanted organ will be due to chronic rejection in most cases although anti rejection drugs control this problem they don't prevent it completely. in some cases it is because the person stops taking their meds or stops attending followup appointments so the doses can be adjusted

[Wrongn3mber]

Thanks for you answers everyone. I wonder if when they start to grow human organs in a lab would the recipient still have to take anti rejection drugs or will we someday come up with a drug that's able to fool the human body into believing that the organ belongs to the recipient.