FuturePundit On Xenotransplantation
Xenotransplantation - a path to an industry capable of mass-producing replacements for age- and disease-damaged organs - has been in the news more often of late. We can hope that this is the result of a rising tide of new advances. Via FuturePundit: "Revivicor's pigs have been genetically modified to not produce alpha-1-galactose sugar which causes human immune rejection. Much more could be done along those lines to make pig organs more like human organs in order to enhance compatibility. This strikes me as a direction that ought to get huge amounts of funding. ... Every day that goes by your organs all get one day older and closer to failure. If we start trying a lot harder now many of us could get youthful organs transplanted from pigs when our own organs get old and start to fail. Time's a wasting. Time is wasting our body parts and making them slowly break down. We ought to develop the means to repair and replace old human body parts."