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When I was in high school I read a collection of Larry Niven’s short stories (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0345394801) which, among other things, painted a world where relatively minor crimes (like jaywalking or littering) carried the death penalty.

The theory was that as the science of organ transplantation became very advanced, it could be used by the very old to keep replacing their parts, prolonging their lives.  Not using the organs of murders and rapists facing execution would be seen by society as causing the easily avoidable deaths of innocent, law abiders as well.  However, once society addicted itself to this source of organs more and more laws would have the punishment of death, in order to meet the insatiable need for organs.

What Niven’s future world failed to take into account is that while there is likely to be an ever increasing need for organs, the rapid rate of scientific advancement in understanding the processes by which cells create organs provides better methods of obtaining them.  Stem cells certainly hold forth the promise of being able to replace body parts that have worn out or are failing.

What if one could build an organ by placing certain other types of cells on a nutritious scaffold?  Researchers have now done just that, creating a bladder.  As the NY Times reports:

Bladders created in the laboratory from a patient’s own cells and then implanted in seven young people have achieved good long-term results in all of them, a team of researchers reported yesterday in a medical journal.

It takes about two months to grow the new bladder on a scaffold outside the body. After implantation, the engineered bladder enlarges over time in the recipient. The researchers say they expect that the new bladder will last a patient’s lifetime, but the longevity will be known only as the children grow older.

For more, see the article: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/04/health/04blad.html

It is exhilarating to imagine how many lives will be saved by such techniques, particularly since the current volunteer donor system has created a lottery contest among the long waiting hopeful.  The promise of avoiding Niven’s dark future is also welcome.  Yet many will likely be uncomfortable with the likely future, where organs can be designed and replaced, like clothes, or makeup, and those that have undergone procedures, even cosmetic ones, will be nearly indistinguishable from those who haven’t.

This entry has been filed under tech.