Homotransplants

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Tissues or organs transplanted from one individual to another genetically different individual of the same species, as in certain surgical procedures
2. Grafts of living tissue taken from a donor and placed into a recipient who belongs to the same species but differs genetically from the donor
3. Transplanted material moved between unrelated members of one species so that the recipient's immune system may or may not accept it

Etymology: "Homotransplants" is the plural of "homotransplant," a term for a tissue graft moved between two genetically different individuals of the same species. The word is built from two parts: the combining form "homo-," from Greek "homos" meaning "same," and "transplant," a word that comes from Latin "transplantare," meaning "to plant in another place." Joined together, they describe a graft that goes from one organism to another of its own kind. The first element is the one that does the work. In medicine, "homo-" marks a contrast with "hetero-" (different), so the term sets same-species grafts apart from xenotransplants, which cross species boundaries. The word thus names a category rather than a single procedure, and its plural form is used when surgeons or researchers discuss many such grafts together.

Synonyms: homograft, allograft

Antonyms: xenotransplant