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3D-printed hearts with ‘beating’ tissue could ease organ donor shortage

3D-printed hearts with 'beating' tissue could ease organ donor shortage

Written by David

September 24, 2019

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Scientists at Harvard University developed a new technique that uses living human cells to “print” functional heart tissue for an artificial heart.

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In the early 1990s, Jim Gleason’s health took a turn for the worse. His heart had been ravaged by an infection, and doctors told him he would need a new one. Gleason was placed on the organ transplant list. As he waited, he realized he was waiting for death — either his own, or the death of a potential organ donor. Eventually, Gleason found a match. The donated heart — from a 38-year-old Brooklyn man named Roberto who had been attacked and was declared brain dead — gave Gleason a second chance at life.

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But not everyone who needs it gets that opportunity. Despite advances in modern medicine, not much has changed about organ transplantation since the 1990s. Organs are still removed from donors who have recently […]

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