New Organ: Up to $15,000 For Social Network Engagement
The New Organ Prize is a technology prize aimed at speeding development of tissue engineered complex organs, founded by the Methuselah Foundation. To win, a competitor must build a complex organ from a patient's own stem cells, transplant it, and have it function for two years - without making use of present stepping stone technologies such as decellularization that still require a donor organ. Start with cells and end up with patient-matched organs: that is the vision.
One of the projects currently undertaken by the New Organ volunteers is the New Organ 100 initiative, focused on crowdsourcing the first stage of prize fundraising, raising awareness, and building support in the large community of organ donors, organ recipients, and their supporters.
Anyone can join in, create a fundraising page, and persuade their friends to help out; fundraisers compete with one another in rankings of number of donors and amount raised. This is an expansion into the world of social networking, and the New Organ Prize can be found on a variety of social sites:
As matters proceed, the New Organ Prize continues to attract matching donations and incentives. The latest is an offer by investor Michael Matula: for every like or share on Facebook, or follower on Twitter, he will donate $1 to the prize fund - up to $15,000. In an ideal world, every reader here would think enough of the initiative to head on over and donate a modest amount, or start a fundraiser and talk a few friends into supporting the initative. If you're not up for that, however, then consider stretching your mouse fingers so far as to like the New Organ 100 page.