Immunobiology of renal transplant

Abstract

This article reviews the development of organ transplantation from the early beginning when fiction and superstition prevailed, to the current times when, with the participation of surgeons, oncologists, geneticists and immunologists, the concept of the Major Histocompatibility Complex was developed and later on the complexity of these markers was worked out and was used to match Donors and Recipients thus making transplants feasible. Hopefully molecular biology will help to open a new era in transplantation to make this form of therapy more reliable and safely applicable to other organs.