Stem cell research is an area that could lead to incredible advances in the treatment of kidney disease. The idea that stem cells could be used to reverse the disease, or to grow me a whole new kidney--my own kidney, where the need for immunosuppressant drugs is no longer needed--is very appealing to me. Besides my own selfish needs, there are many benefits to stem cells for other diseases and could even help people who need other organ transplants, but must wait for a cadaver organ. I don't personally have a moral problem with stem cell research and I understand the ethical dilemmas of embryonic stem cells, but the potential benefits of this research to all mankind is too great to ignore.

Another area of interesting research is chimerism, the idea that injecting bone marrow and/or blood from the donor into the transplant recipient could result in the recipient becoming drug-free. The reason for immunosuppressants is because the body will treat the transplanted organ as a foreign object and will want to get rid of it. The drugs help keep the white blood cells from attacking the organ. There hasn't been a lot of research into chimerism, but they have done the procedure on several patients, most with positive results.

A kidney transplant from a live donor lasts around 20 years. That means I will most likely need another transplant down the road. I hope research is able to continue on alternative treatment options so maybe one day I can live a healthy, drug-free life.