It was in the mid 17th century that physicians sought to transfer blood from one animal to another and by early 18th century the process was tried by giving lamb’s blood to a feverish young man and he recovered in short order. Further such experiments didn’t prove successful and one ended up in the courts when the physician was actually accused of murder. The physician was freed but a ban was placed on all such transfer of blood products.
It was not until the turn of the 20th century when blood types were discovered, that body parts transfer came back into vogue and by 1954 the first kidney transplant between two persons was successfully performed. By the 60s, liver, heart, pancreas and in the 80s lung and intestines were being transplanted….and nowadays replacement parts for a variety of areas are available such as the cornea of the eyes, heart valves , skin, et al.
In the transplant process different techniques are used;… from having the two patients, donor and receiver in the same operating theatre;…. to removing the organ at one hospital centre and transporting it to another. Also there are organs which must be provided from a living donor and used immediately or others which can be stored and used later in a compatible recipient.
AVAILABILITY OF ORGANS
The most commonly transplanted organ is the kidney. In Jamaica, every year there are about a 1000 new cases of kidney failure requiring dialysis support. The only alternative is kidney transplantation. There was an active transplant programme which began in the late 60s thru the 70s, but that has gradually waned and I fear has ground to a halt!
In the USA alone , each year there are some 75000 persons waiting for organs, while only about 8000 deceased organ donors become available and each donor can provide on average about 3 organs. This crisis persists; but there is hope on the horizon as cutting edge technology steps in.
3D PRINTING
It is now possible to print bones, eyes, skin, kidneys , heart etc, BUT the limitation is to get them to function. This bioprinting provides some of the most exciting developments expected to roll in within the next couple decades.
4D PRINTING
Here is the corker,… wherein 3D printed body parts are programmable to change shape and activity under different stimuli or are simply engineered to alter after a given timeframe. Indeed a mini heart has already been 3D printed…and we await with bated breath to see it stimulated into ‘life’.
ARE ORGAN BANKS STILL RELEVANT?
They certainly are!
In the best of centres, the printing of an organ could take up to 4-6 hours. Minutely in any one country, hundreds of corneas, eye lenses et al are in need and to be able to call in an order with immediate response is what having an organ bank will provide.
Even a heart can be harvested from a dying patient, stored deep frozen then later reactivated and transplanted into a recipient.
The setting up of an organ bank is subject to controls and laws in different countries; and internationally, while it is permissible to donate organs, it is illegal for them to be on sale. Nevertheless, in the USA for example, there are some organs which can be sold, viz:
- Hair …the story is told of a 12-yr old Brazilian girl who sold 5 feet of her hair for US $5000
- Blood plasma… which is the liquid part of the blood and can be used in treating several diseases inclusive of Covid 19. Donors can earn US$40 per donation of a pint of whole blood
- Sperm… donors in the USA are required to make a weekly donation for at least a year and he can earn up to US$1500 per month
- Eggs…a woman can earn over US$8000 for one retrieval cycle of her eggs
- The Womb…a woman who agrees to bear a child for another woman is known as a surrogate mother and she can earn US$50000 and more
- Bone marrow…which is used in treating some blood cancers can cost thousands of US$.
- Breast milk …costs up to US$3 per ounce
- Skin…Advertising companies have used athletes to imprint henna -based ads on their skin…earning the athletes thousands of US$...the more famous the athlete the more the sums paid
- Placenta extracts are sold as possible beneficial supplements for new mothers
- The whole body….used especially in clinical research in medical universities where from sleep to cancer research is conducted. This can bring in a tidy $ sum depending on the nature of the research programme.
Thus a whole new world has opened up and continues to be innovative as the technological support joins in the research and development.
Lost your hand?...no problem, let’s print a new one for you!
Over the years things has change so much let's pray that it' change for the better and that more people lives will be save.
ReplyDeleteThis world has entered un-chartered waters since the twenty first century, i am certainly not sure i would want to participate in some of these changes however its where we are, the bible states clearly that in the last days "knowledge shall increase", its quite clear ww are living in the last days.
ReplyDeleteInteresting eyeopener
ReplyDeleteI hope they can improve the kinks soon and enable
ReplyDeletePersons to get much needed organs. Thanks for sharing Prof
moves should be made to educate our people about the possibility of donating their organs. I hear people are being kidnapped,and their organs sold.its big business.
ReplyDelete