transplantation, medical

transplantation, medical, surgical procedure by which a tissue or organ is removed and replaced by a corresponding part, usually from another part of the body or from another individual. A life-saving medical technique, transplantation also is an important tool in experimental biology; it is used to investigate endocrine gland functions, to study the interactions of cells in developing embryos, and to culture malignant tissue in cancer research.

Sections in this article:

• Introduction
• Types of Transplanted Tissues and Organs
• Immunological Rejection of Transplanted Tissue
• History
• Bibliography

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