The Unfinished Legacy of Liver Transplantation: Emphasis on Immunology

Liver transplantation radically changed the philosophy of hepatology practice, enriched multiple areas of basic science, and had pervasive ripple effects in law, public policy, ethics, and theology. Why organ engraftment was feasible remained enigmatic, however, until the discovery in 1992 of donor leukocyte microchimerism in long-surviving liver, and other kinds of organ recipients. Following this discovery, the leukocyte chimerism-associated...