Last spring, doctors were prepared to inject baboon bone marrow into AIDS patients in an attempt to boost their immune systems, but the government told them to wait. Now, some experts say that such cautious federal conduct with animal organs is overdue, especially because it is not known whether such transplants could promote new diseases. The question is whether the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) should regulate the increasing number of experiments in which Americans are given animal organs or cells. The debate was highlighted when the FDA suspended the AIDS-baboon trial until it determines whether the experiment is safe. An FDA panel will make that decision in July. In the meantime, the agency has sought advice from the Institute of Medicine. After three days of debate, scientists reached no conclusion, but some suggested a national panel to control xenotransplants.

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