Organ shortage and genetic modification: Tissues from 3D-bioprinting and GM pigs could address organ shortages but regulation causes lags
Modern medicine has produced many kinds of high-tech miracles, among them gene therapy to correct malfunctioning genes, electrical stimulation devices to restore significant function after traumatic spinal cord injury, surgery performed by robots, and a wearable, postage-stamp-size ultrasound patch that can take real-time images of the heart and monitor its performance. Another sector of medicine that desperately needs breakthroughs is the transplantation of solid organs, which are in severely short supply. Currently, more than 100,000 Americans are waiting for transplants, and due to a shorta...