• Question: if you had got a heart transplant would parts of your DNA change?

    Asked by Hunny to Rebecca on 23 Jun 2015.
    • Photo: Rebecca Dewey

      Rebecca Dewey answered on 23 Jun 2015:

      No – your DNA wouldn’t be changed by a transplant. The cells in your body that make more of themselves, and any new cells that are produced, would not be affected by the transplant and your DNA would stay the same. Your heart would also probably always keep its DNA – that of the donor – and its DNA would not be replaced with your DNA. However, as some of the cells in the heart die (and get replaced by new cells), they get taken away by the blood stream to be broken down and removed. This is why sometimes the DNA of the donor (heart DNA) can sometimes be detected in the blood of the recipient.

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