The University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics is an important regional teaching hospital and regional trauma center, with strengths in transplant medicine, oncology, digestive disorders, and endocrinology.

Researchers say thalidomide is more effective than cyclosprorin and less toxic than steroids, the major drugs used in transplant medicine.

Dr. Arthur Caplan, a leading expert on transplant medicine at the University of Minnesota, called Dr. Stevenson's work "brave, pioneering and enormously significant."

Every cell and every tissue derived from those stem cells would be a perfect immunological match, which would immediately circumvent the big stumbling block of current transplant medicine: matching tissue.

Mycophenolate mofetil (MMF) (brand names CellCept, Myfortic) is an immunosuppressant and prodrug of mycophenolic acid, used extensively in transplant medicine.

Current Problem Is Testament to Success The high demand is, in a sense, testimony to the success of transplant medicine, particularly liver transplants.

A list of significant federal laws and regulations enacted since the field of transplant medicine began is contained in the link below.

It's a trend that's changing transplant medicine.

Because the California researchers conducted their research independently and have not yet published scientific articles about the apparatus, this week's announcement surprised leading experts in transplant medicine and medical ethics.

Mr. West described his work as "the dream of transplant medicine" and himself as "pro-life."