More donor organs are needed, but too few are available. Could the future of transplant medicine be found in the laboratory? Doctors and scientists around the world are researching ways to produce organs artificially.
The shortage of donor organs is one of the most pressing problems in medicine. Waiting lists are long, with some patients waiting many years for a life-saving transplant. For some, the donor organ comes too late. That’s why doctors and scientists around the world are working on alternatives. What if it was possible to simply order a new heart?
Mini kidneys from stem cells, liver cells in animal models, and the vision of an artificial heart are at the center of these exciting developments, known collectively as "tissue engineering.”
At the Charité hospital in Berlin, efforts are being made to modify organs of animal origin so that they can be used as donor organs for humans. At the Riken Institute in Japan, scientists are working not only to modify organs, but to generate them entirely in the laboratory—tailor-made and in sufficient quantities.
The film follows leading research projects in Germany, Japan, and Sweden to consider central themes of modern medicine. Ethical questions are also addressed: What does it mean to produce artificial organs? And how close are we really to a revolution in transplant medicine?
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