My assumption is that over time the organ regenerates new cells with the host’s DNA. Or do the two stay distinct for life, or do they merge into a mix of the two? If they stay separate, is there a definite boundary, and does the host’s future offspring bear the DNA of three bloodlines instead of two?
In: Biology
>My assumption is that over time the organ regenerates new cells with the host’s DNA
This is incorrect. The reason we need organ transplants in the first place is that we few exceptions, we can’t regenerate organs. The donor organ remains the donor organ. That’s why organ recipients have to take immunosupressant drugs for life so they don’t reject the donor organ. The “definite boundary” is the organ itself. I think you’re overthinking it. If I donate a kidney to you, the kidney has my DNA, and the rest of your body still has your DNA. Offspring do not get any. DNA from transplanted organs. Transplanted organs have nothing to do with the creation of sperm cells, and in women, all of their egg cells already exist at birth.
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