By Caroline Song
Richard Adhikari of TechNewsWorld, has written an article titled “Bioprinting, Part 2 – The Ethical Conundrum” where he voices raising concerns in the face of medical improvement. Within the United States, around 120,000 individuals are on a waiting list for an organ transplant. However, the amount of donors is low and there are concerns about the quality of life post-transplant. The hope is that 3D printing could be …

By Noushaba T. Rashid

Doctors from the Great Ormond Street Hospital in the United Kingdom are arguing that the guidelines for organ donations from infants less than two months should be amended. Currently, the UK discourages neonatal donation, mainly due to the uncertainty of whether or not the infant is brain dead, which is the loss of all brain function. However, these donations could be very valuable in saving many infant …

By Kaitlyn Schaeffer
While organ donation is viewed by Canadians as an essential component of a well-functioning health care system, and while 95% of the population supports organ donation, only 50%-60% are willing to donate. These rates translate into only 16 organ donators for every million people in Canada, about half that of other countries like the United States, Spain, and Australia. One of the greatest contributing factors to these lower …

By Caroline Song

KSAT, a news channel located in San Antonio, Texas, reports on a Houston based lab that has begun building new human organs using scaffolding provided by pig organs. The process involves obtaining pig organs where they are washed with simple soap and water and then implanted with human stem cells. KSAT interviewed Amanda Dejesus, a resident of Pearland, Texas, who needed a new heart at the age …

By Kayla Santos

Face and hand transplants have been procedures of much debate in recent years. One of the biggest problems is determining who should be prioritized. Patients who are more likely to die without a transplant or those who have been on the waiting list for the longest period of time are given priority with other organ transplant surgeries but, since transplantation of the hands and face are not “life-saving” …

by Noushaba T Rashid

Spain’s first organ trafficking ring was exposed by police in Valencia, which lead to five non-Spanish men being arrested. This group allegedly offered up to €40,000 to poor migrants who did not have official documents in exchange for their viable organs such as kidneys and livers. These were then sold to wealthy clients, foreign and domestic, who had the surgery done at a private clinic in Valencia. …

Colleen Boyle, a junior at the University of Georgia majoring in biology and genetics, is the founder and president of Donate Life UGA. Donate Life is a national non-profit organization that seeks to increase the number of organ, eye, and tissue donations by educating people about donation and promoting donation registration. Boyle became involved with the Donate Life project when she realized that many people have serious misconceptions about what …

By Caroline Song

Beacon Journal published the article, “Woman with rare cancer fighting insurer to cover transplant” on March 9, 2014, written by their medical writer, Cheryl Powell. The story centers on Jeanne Ralston-Astalos’s struggle to obtain coverage from her insurance provider for a liver transplant. From Northfield, Ohio, the 50-year-old mother of two suffers from an extremely rare form of cancer. Ralston-Astalos first discovered something was wrong in July of …

By Kaitlyn Schaeffer
Bioprinting expert Benjamin Harris and his team at the Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine have been developing several promising projects using 3D printing technology. One machine, a printer that can produce artificial structures while dispensing living cells, is being used to replace missing or damaged ears, noses, and bones.  A second printer, still in the development stages, is being programmed to print live skin cells onto burned …

By Julie Killian

Dr. Mats Brannstrom from Sweden is leading research to determine whether or not women with transplanted wombs will be able to have healthy and successful pregnancies. Since 2012, nine women have received transplanted wombs from their mothers and close relatives in order to have their own biological children. Two of those women suffered from post – transplant complications and had their wombs removed. Dr. Brannstorm predicted that …