June 13, 2025
(Nature) – The hearts started to beat in the pig–human hybrids, which survived for 21 days. Researchers have reported growing hearts containing human cells in pig embryos for the first time. The embryos survived for 21 days, and in that … Read More
June 9, 2025
(Wired) – A federal investigation found a Kentucky nonprofit pushed hospital workers toward surgery despite signs of revival in patients. Four years ago, an unconscious Kentucky man began to awaken as he was about to be removed from life support … Read More
May 30, 2025
(New York Times) – Dr. Robert K. Jarvik, the principal designer of the first permanent artificial heart implanted in a human — a procedure that became a subject of great public fascination and fierce debate about medical ethics — died … Read More
May 20, 2025
(New York Times) – Surgeons in Southern California have performed the first human bladder transplant, introducing a new, potentially life-changing procedure for people with debilitating bladder conditions. The operation was performed earlier this month by a pair of surgeons from … Read More
April 23, 2025
Journal of Medical Ethics (vol. 51, no. 4, 2025) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
April 15, 2025
(ABC News) – U.S. researchers will soon test whether livers from a gene-edited pig could treat people with sudden liver failure — by temporarily filtering their blood so their own organ can rest and maybe heal. The first-of-its-kind clinical trial … Read More
April 14, 2025
Public Health Ethics (vol. 18, no. 1, 2025) is available online by subscription only. Articles include:
April 11, 2025
(Associated Press) – An Alabama woman who lived with a pig kidney for a record 130 days had the organ removed after her body began rejecting it and is back on dialysis, doctors announced Friday – a disappointment in the … Read More
April 7, 2025
(BBC) – A “miracle” baby girl has become the first child in the UK to be born to a mother using a donated womb. The baby’s mum, Grace Davidson, 36, was born without a functioning uterus, and received her sister’s … Read More
March 31, 2025
(MIT Technology Review) – Although it may seem like science fiction, recent technological progress has pushed this concept into the realm of plausibility. Pluripotent stem cells, one of the earliest cell types to form during development, can give rise to … Read More
March 28, 2025
(Medscape) – A multidisciplinary team from China has successfully transplanted a gene-modified pig liver into a human recipient diagnosed with brain death. During a 10-day observation period, the porcine liver produced bile and porcine albumin, maintained stable blood flow, and … Read More
March 27, 2025
(Gizmodo) – Only a handful of rabies cases tied to organ transplantation have ever been reported in the U.S. A normally life-saving procedure has ended in a incredibly rare kind of death. According to local health officials and the Centers … Read More
March 26, 2025
(NBC News) – Chinese researchers are reporting new steps in the quest for animal-to-human organ transplants — with a successful pig kidney transplant and a hint Wednesday that pig livers might eventually be useful, too. A Chinese patient is the third person in world … Read More
March 17, 2025
(New York Times) – THE TELEPHONE CALL that interrupted Brendan’s death was about extending lives, though not his. Just as he had planned. The caller was from LiveOnNY, the nonprofit organization federally designated to coordinate organ donations in the New … Read More
March 13, 2025
(CNN) – An Australian man lived for 100 days with an artificial titanium heart while he awaited a donor transplant, the longest period to date of someone with the technology. The patient, a man in his 40s who declined to … Read More
March 12, 2025
(New York Times) – Some scientists are confident that organs from genetically modified pigs will one day be routinely transplanted into humans. But substantial ethical questions remain. They are delivered by C-section to protect them from viruses that sows can … Read More
February 28, 2025
(Knowable Magazine) – Can genetically modified animals help ease the shortage of organs? After years of research into xenotransplantation, the field is at a turning point — yet risks and ethical issues remain. Over the past few years, a handful … Read More
February 27, 2025
(New York Times) – The sickest patients are supposed to get priority for lifesaving transplants. But more and more, they are being skipped over. For decades, fairness has been the guiding principle of the American organ transplant system. Its bedrock, … Read More
February 25, 2025
(Gizmodo) – Health officials in Wisconsin and Minnesota have documented a rare case of donor-derived ehrlichiosis. A person’s precious organ donation came with an unexpected visitor. In a new paper out this month, scientists have documented an unconventional way of … Read More
February 17, 2025
(Wall Street Journal) – If you need a prescription filled in the coming years, don’t be surprised if it flies in and lands in your backyard. Hospitals and doctors are increasingly experimenting with the use of drones to deliver medications, … Read More
February 12, 2025
(Cincinnati Enquirer) – An Indiana family says Cincinnati Children’s won’t put their 12-year-old daughter on its heart transplant waiting list because of her vaccination status. Janeen Deal, who is related by marriage to Vice President JD Vance’s half-siblings, said the hospital requires her daughter … Read More
February 10, 2025
(Associated Press) – A New Hampshire man fought for the chance at a pig kidney transplant, spending months getting into good enough shape to be part of a small pilot study of a highly experimental treatment. His effort paid off: … Read More
February 7, 2025
(New York Times) – Surgeons in Boston successfully transplanted the kidney of a genetically modified pig into a 66-year-old man with kidney failure last month, Massachusetts General Hospital announced on Friday. It was the fourth pig kidney transplant in the … Read More
February 3, 2025
(New York Times) – The research offers hope to tens of thousands of patients with kidney failure who are on a long waiting list for an organ transplant. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has given the green light to … Read More
January 30, 2025
(NPR) – Towana Looney is waiting to check in with her doctors at NYU Health Langone when it registers that she’s passing a major milestone in her recovery from a kidney transplant. In late November she became the first person … Read More
