S03E09 - 🚑 Custom Printed Organs
If you're lucky enough to receive an organ transplant there's no guarantee that your body will accept the donation which means a lifetime of anti-rejection medication. However researchers are working on technology to enable organs to be printed on-demand using your own cells.
Ever since organ transplants first occurred in the 1950s there's been a supply shortage which currently results in around 20 deaths per day just in the United States. Even if you're lucky enough to receive a transplant there's no guarantee that your body will accept the donation which means a lifetime of anti-rejection medication. However researchers are working on technology to enable organs to be printed on-demand using cells from the transplant recipient.
Rice University Organ Research & Video: https://news.rice.edu/2019/05/02/organ-bioprinting-gets-a-breath-of-fresh-air-2/
CREDITS
This episode of Moonshot was hosted and edited by Kristofor Lawson (@kristoforlawson).
Research and scripting by Jasmine Mee Lee.
Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.
And our cover artwork is by Andrew Millist.