Every year, millions, if not billions of people die. Of these, many die because they did not have access to an organ, or other organic part of the body that they needed. In short, people need parts of their body to live. I know that that sounds obvious, but it is very true and much more complex. If the idea of creating organs by growing and molding cells, became possible, then it would save countless lives and it would change the medical scene forever. This is why the innovation that I chose is biomedical engineering.
The first thing that I need to do is define what biomedical organ engineering is. In total, it is a field of science and medicine that involves the development and construction of organic matter that is needed in the human body. Biomedical engineering of organs has not been perfected yet, and a plethora of scientists have worked on it, so a set inventor of the innovation is non-existent. According to the article cited at the end of this blog, this is the first few step in one of the more basic aspects of the innovation: "First, a photosensitive material is layered onto silicon, and ultraviolet light is used to etch grooves in a desired pattern into silicone rubber. This guides the production of a 3D network of hollow tubes inside a rubbery rectangle the size of a computer memory stick." This seems very complex to the average reader, and it is very complex to most except biomedical scientists. The quote proves not only is there a lack of people who pursue this field, but it is very difficult to be active in the field. The innovation would be used by many people all over the world, but it is needed most in underprivileged and impoverished countries. The completion would help all types of people from different walk of life, all over the world. At this time, the country that is the most beneficial for the innovation is South Korea. This is because they have such a concentrated amount of money and intelligence. It is very important, that if we eventually perfect it, that we be generous enough to export and import it as needed to help the people who need it most.
The idea of biomedical engineering is vast, and continues to expand everyday. If it continues to expand, then the 55% of lung transplant recipients who are still alive after three year may be heightened. One of the many benefits of biomedical engineering is that it help the field of medical research as a whole become more advanced. That is one of the things on the continuously growing list of benefits for biomedical engineering. Although the benefits far outweigh the consequences, there are a few large possibilities that would demonstrate malice. One of which is that the market for illegal organ trade would increase. People would no longer stalk the streets looking for a blank canvass of organs. They would now just pay to have them produced in mass quantity. That would make millions of dollars be wasted on black-market products. Overall, the chemical production of organs would be very beneficial, and the prosperity of it far outweighs the hindrance.
Marx, Vivien. “Tissue Engineering: Organs from the Lab.” Nature, vol. 522, no. 7556, June 2015, p. 373. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1038/522373a.
https://www.nature.com/articles/522373a
Mayer, Kevin. “Top-Down/ Bottom-Up Approaches Converge on Bioficial Organs: GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.” GEN, 31 Oct. 2018, www.genengnews.com/insights/top-down-bottom-up-approaches-converge-on-bioficial-organs/.
The idea of biomedical engineering is vast, and continues to expand everyday. If it continues to expand, then the 55% of lung transplant recipients who are still alive after three year may be heightened. One of the many benefits of biomedical engineering is that it help the field of medical research as a whole become more advanced. That is one of the things on the continuously growing list of benefits for biomedical engineering. Although the benefits far outweigh the consequences, there are a few large possibilities that would demonstrate malice. One of which is that the market for illegal organ trade would increase. People would no longer stalk the streets looking for a blank canvass of organs. They would now just pay to have them produced in mass quantity. That would make millions of dollars be wasted on black-market products. Overall, the chemical production of organs would be very beneficial, and the prosperity of it far outweighs the hindrance.
Marx, Vivien. “Tissue Engineering: Organs from the Lab.” Nature, vol. 522, no. 7556, June 2015, p. 373. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1038/522373a.
https://www.nature.com/articles/522373a
Mayer, Kevin. “Top-Down/ Bottom-Up Approaches Converge on Bioficial Organs: GEN - Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News.” GEN, 31 Oct. 2018, www.genengnews.com/insights/top-down-bottom-up-approaches-converge-on-bioficial-organs/.
This was a very good blog Ian! Good job on it. The only thing I would say about it is maybe explain a little by on how its more advanced. Have more quotes about your innovation and then explain it. You did a really good job on explaining your quotes!
ReplyDeleteYou say "One of the many benefits of biomedical engineering is that it help the field of medical research as a whole become more advanced. " Just explain a little bit more on how it was advanced.
DeleteThanks for the comment Jared. I completely agree with you. When I say "One of the many benefits of biomedical engineering is that it helps the field of medical research as a whole become more advanced. ", I need to explain that more. When organs are being engineered, the scientists who are creating them are doing very intricate procedures. The steps that they are doing may already be known, but other steps are being created. Thus furthering advancing scientific research. The newly thought of steps are repeatedly tested, and most are discarded. This is because only the most precise calculations can be used when playing "God" so to speak. I hope that answers your comment, and thank you for your feedback.
DeleteIn your blog you say, "It is very important, that if we eventually perfect it, that we be generous enough to export and import it as needed to help the people who need it most." Do you believe this will happen? Who exactly are the people that need this the most?
ReplyDeleteIn my personal opinion, I believe that the importation and exportation will happen to a certain extent. The transfer at all will be very helpful, but I do not think that it will happen to the needed effectiveness. This is because the large companies that will produce the organs will not give them to the people who cannot pay for them. These people are usually the people who need them the most, and that leads me into the answer of your next question. The people who need the organs the most, according to a 2008 survey done by the World Health Organization are citizens in third world countries. The countries are mostly in Africa and South America, because of the densely packed, unsanitary civilizations. Some example of these countries are Ghana and Kenya in Africa, and Venezuela in South America. I hope that answers your questions, and thank you.
DeleteI really enjoyed reading this blog, and learning about something that I didn't know about before reading. You seemed very knowledgeable about this topic, and I learned a lot. I'm just wondering if maybe you could add a quote providing evidence that under privileged countries need biomedical organs. (It's pretty obvious, but maybe you could add a quote.)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the praise James, and I agree with you. In my reply to a previous comment, I explain a similar answer to a similar question to yours. In the 2008 survey that was done by the World Heath Organization, it describes specific reasons why the impoverished countries need the transplants. A quote that might work is "...such as cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, or chronic respiratory disease between ages 30 and 70...". I think that this quote would work because it describes the specific non-communicable diseases that may require transplants. Thank you for the comment, and I hope I answered your question.
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