Tissue or an organ that is transplanted from one part of the body to another or from one individual to another. Grafts can be autografts (from the same person), allografts (from another person), or xenografts (from another species).
From Old French 'graffe' meaning a stylus or pencil, later applied to plant grafting where a shoot is inserted into another plant. The medical use developed in the 19th century when surgeons began transplanting tissues using similar insertion techniques.
Skin grafts were among the first successful transplant procedures, and surgeons discovered that grafts from identical twins never get rejected because they have identical tissue markers. This led to the discovery of the immune system's role in transplant rejection and the development of immunosuppressive drugs!
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