Association Of Catholic Bloggers

Kidney failure isn't always fatal these days. Hemodialysis or peritoneal dialysis can keep someone alive until a transplant donor shows up. Kidney problems kill about a million folks each year. It's not the leading cause of death for my 7,250,000,000-plus neighbors, but that's still a lot of deaths. Scientists in Japan grew working kidneys in rats and pigs. We're years away from grow-your-own kidneys for patients: but I think that's coming. Meanwhile, a scientist in England wants permission to collect people for genetic experiments. The Francis Crick Institute, Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority, and BBC News describe the proposal more discretely. More at A Catholic Citizen in America .

Too many folks die, waiting for a compatible donor organ. We can't coax a patient's body into growing a new heart or kidney: yet. But we can build made-to-order bladders, and scientists have grown a new thymus: inside a mouse. It's a first step.... ...If starfish and some mice can regenerate complete missing parts: why can't we? Right now, we don't know. Not for sure. It probably has something to do with our immune system, and the way our bodies deal with injury.... More at A Catholic Citizen in America .