I’m currently reading a book called Charlatan by Pope Brock. It’s the story of “Doctor” John Brinkly, who made millions during the 1930s with his “Goat Gland” operation, in which he transplanted goat testicles into humans as a cure for impotence. (He also was a pioneer of commercial radio, and started the first “border blaster” mexican radio station, among other things).
The book relates the sad fate of many of his victims, dying or being cripped by infections, tetnus, or poor surgical technique. There were apparently plenty who survived his attentions and many who even swore that he healed them. The book never talks about the effect on these people, however.
What would the long term effects of such an operation be? Would the goat tissue simply dissolve, or would there be scarring? Would there be lasting health effects?
The concept you raise, referred to as xenotransplantation, has been around for decades. The most famous case has to be that of Baby Fae, who received a baboon heart in 1984 before dying 20 days later. In the 1930’s, I would imagine the organs would have had virtually no chance of surviving. As soon as the body recognized the foreign tissue, rejection would rapidly set in. Without modern anti-rejection drugs, the chance of organ survival is essentially nil. The transplanted organ would likely end up as a hardened mass of scar tissue. Interestingly, transplantation of testicles may have had some benefit in certain cases of impotence because of the presence of androgenic steroids in the tissue itself.
Today, much work is being done on genetically altering animal species (usually pigs), to make their organs more compatible with human tissue, and thus less likely to be rejected. These transplants are referred to as transgenic transplants, and while quite contorversial today, may represent the future of transplant surgery.
Shortly after Baby Fae’s baboon heart, the concept leapt into the field of dolls. There was Cabbage Patch Baby Fae, with her artichoke heart.
I typed a nice reply to this last night, but my internet connection failed!
Check wikipedia on the topic of xenotransplants and xenografts. They have nice summaries. Xenotransplantation - Wikipedia
Basically, xenotransplants are still highly experiemental, but a few folk have survived on pig livers long enough to get a human liver transplant.
Xenografts are common as hell, via pig and cow heart valves.