When tissues are transplanted from one species (e.g., human) into another species (e.g., mouse) you have prepared a xenograft (xeno- from the Greek for foreign and graft from Middle English for joining or transferring). When one transplants tissues within a species (e.g., mouse to mouse) it is referred to as an allograft. Thus, the title of this paper incorrectly refers to the test model as a xenograft. The authors did not prepare nor test a xenograft, they tested an allograft. The term syngeneic (used by the authors to describe the model) and the term xenograft are mutually exclusive. You cannot be syngeneic with another species. The correct title should not contain the word xenograft, it could contain the word allograft or syngeneic model.
Competing interests
I do not have a competing interest. I use xenografts and allografts in my work and I prefer they be named correctly as it is quite misleading to people doing literature searches to have models mislabeled.
incorrect model label - this is not a xenograft, it is an allograft
17 August 2011
When tissues are transplanted from one species (e.g., human) into another species (e.g., mouse) you have prepared a xenograft (xeno- from the Greek for foreign and graft from Middle English for joining or transferring). When one transplants tissues within a species (e.g., mouse to mouse) it is referred to as an allograft. Thus, the title of this paper incorrectly refers to the test model as a xenograft. The authors did not prepare nor test a xenograft, they tested an allograft. The term syngeneic (used by the authors to describe the model) and the term xenograft are mutually exclusive. You cannot be syngeneic with another species. The correct title should not contain the word xenograft, it could contain the word allograft or syngeneic model.
Competing interests
I do not have a competing interest. I use xenografts and allografts in my work and I prefer they be named correctly as it is quite misleading to people doing literature searches to have models mislabeled.