Animals and the human kidney.

A traffic accident victim is saved from acute renal failure by techniques learned through animal experimentation. The film goes on to describe the structure and function of the kidney, looks at kidney failure and examines dialysis. Erythropoietin, a hormonal treatment developed in animal-assisted research, helps combat post-dialysis fatigue and cyclosporin is an example of an immunosuppressant drug that was developed on animals. The possibility of using pigs' kidneys to overcome the shortage of organs for human transplant is also considered.